Isn't anyone going to say anything?
by Pokey1984
Summary: [Completed] FluffAU sort of. Owen and Beru's deaths are what convinced Luke to leave with Obi Wan in ANH. What if they hadn't died? I said it was a one shot but the bunny came back, please don't hurt me...
1. Default Chapter

Hi there!

This authors note is also going to serve as my apology. At midnight last night I was scrolling through FF.N looking for something to read and it seemed every other story was an AU. I started thinking about all the AU's I've never seen and wondered why. I don't know why I suddenly thought about Owen and Beru Lars, but I did and I realized one of two thing would have happened if they hadn't died. Either Luke never would have left Tatooine (his family's death is what convinced him to leave with Obi Wan), or everything else would have occured prettly much exactly the same. My very next thought was, "It wouldn't have made a lot of difference to the plot, but I sure would have liked to be there for that conversation!"

I wasn't there, so I had to make it up.

My apology is for what I did to Beru. I don't know where that came from except I read a story the other day that mentioned she was a sort of a freedom fighter when she and Owen were young and it just stuck with me, Sorry. I refuse to apologise for anything else, you knew when you started this that I wrote it at midnight, it was just one of those things that had to be written.

Sorry about the spacing, I don't know why, but it won't hold my carriage returns.

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"Isn't anyone going to say anything?"

By: Pokey1984

I refuse to write a disclaimer on principle. George knows I don't mean anything by it.

PB: What if Owen and Beru Lars didn't die in ANH?

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"If they tracked the droids to the jawas then the might have learned who they sold them to and that would lead them back... Home!"

"No, wait.." Obi Wan Kenobi started but Luke Skywalker had already turned to leave. He jumped into the speeder and started the engine just as Obi Wan climbed in.

"If we are going to accomplish anything, you will need my assistance." The old man said firmly. Luke took off at speeds that would have most beings frozen in terror. Obi Wan almost chuckled at that, remembering another blue eyed youth who drove too fast.

Luke barraled across the desert, not slowing even when a group of sand people started firing on the speeder. Instead, he swung the craft back and forth, making it a harder target. It didn't take much for they were soon out of range. Shortly, they came upon the Lars homestead.

The first thing Luke saw was the imperial shuttle taking off, the second was the column of thick black smoke rising from his home. He drove the shuttle right up to the door and jumped out before it had stopped completely. He heard Aunt Beru crying for help and his uncle was pounding on the door, which had been melted to it's frame by blaster fire. Luke didn't hesitate. He grabbed the lightsabre from his belt, his fathers sabre, and yelled for his family to "Stand Back" and he started cutting at the door. In seconds he was inside pulling his injured family to safety.

Obi Wan had seen he couldn't help Luke with the door and had run to the workshop to find an extigusher. He came back with three of them just as Luke pulled Owen from the building. He rushed inside, hoping the closed door had slowed down the fire. Luke followed quickly and together they put out the blaze. They opened up the house, not to clear the air, but to make any hot spots flare up and be seen. They put out two more small fires and finally declared the building safe.

Out in the courtyard, Owen and Beru were alternating between fits of coughing and crying with relief. When Obi Wan and Luke came out it was to one of the crying fits.

"It's okay, Aunt Beru, I'm here, we're safe, it's okay!" Luke assured her when she grabbed him in a fierce hug. She was putting terrible pressure on the ribs he had bruised in his earlier scuffle with the sand people, but he didn't tell her that. She would only worry and fuss and make him explain what he was doing where the sand people could get him. Luke was rescued from his aunts embrace when Owen shouted.

"Kenobi! What the hell are you doing here? I told you not to come here!"

"Saving your life, apparently." Obi Wan answered at the same time Beru said,

"Is that any way to talk to the man who just saved our farm and our lives?"

Owen knew when he was out numbered. He wasn't happy about Kenobi being here, but he knew better than to argue with Beru. Ordinarily she didn't like to argue and would defer to him even if she didn't agree, but she had obviously had more than her share today and wasn't ready to give in to anyone. Owen didn't speak, he just glared at the old Jedi.

Luke, in the wisdom of a teenager, had stayed out of it. Now, though he remembered the reason for this entire problem. "The droids! We left them by the sand crawler!"

"Relax, young Luke, the imperials will not return there. They will likely be combing the desert, though so we should retrieve them soon." Obi Wan laid one hand on Luke's shoulder. "Making sure your family is safe is much more important at the moment." Those words were spoken from experience.

"Ben, why _are_ you here?" Beru asked in a polite tone that she knew her husband couldn't manage at the moment, even for their rescuer.

"Luke here ran across a group of Tusken Raiders while looking for those droids of yours. I happened to be in the same location for other reasons." He shrugged as if that explained everything.

"But why did you..." Luke didn't wait for her to finish the question.

"I was hurt, Aunt Beru. Ben rescued me. He helped me figure out what that R2 unit was going on about yesterday."

Obi Wan broke in there, knowing that this was going to be a long discussion. "Speaking of, perhaps be should retrieve the droids, before little Artoo does anything else rash..."

"Oh, yeah. I'll be right back Uncle Owen, Aunt Beru." He kissed his aunt's forhead and ran for the speeder. He jumped in and took off, only slightly slower than he had when his family was in danger. Obi Wan actually chuckled then, shaking his head.

Owen couldn't take it any longer. "And what, exactly, is so funny?" He demanded, looking for all the world like he would deck the old Jedi.

"Luke is very, enthusiastic." He said as diplomatically as possible. If Beru's answering grin was a bit strained, no one was willing to notice.

"He flies just like his father." She dared to say. She had met Anakin only once, but had seen holos of him flying on numerous occasions. That famous podrace being the most frequent.

Obi Wan looked a little green at the memory. "Yes, he most certainly does. I am definitely not goining to allow him to fly anywhere on Alderaan. Out here in the dessert is one thing, flying in traffic is very different and I am far too old for motion sickness."

Owen looked up, his face a mask of fury and confusion. "What in blazes makes you think he is going to Alderaan?"

"You mean to tell me that you didn't recognize those droids?"

"Why would I recognize the droids, I've never..." Owen trailed off, not sure why he was suddenly thinking of Shmi.

Beru went pale. "Oh my, Owen, they must have changed his outer coverings, I'm sure he was grey before..."

Owen stayed silent until Luke returned a few minutes later. He looked very closely at the two droids as he helped Luke unload them. Still not convince, he turned to the protocol droid. "What is your call number again?"

"I am C3-PO human cyborg relations..."

So familiar... "And where were you manufatured?" That part of the droids memory couldn't be erased, even if everything else was. It ensured that the owner would always be able to find replacement parts.

"Why I am a product of Skywalker Manufacturing. It is based right here on Tatooine."

Owen waved his hand for silence and Luke just stared. He had never met another person named Skywalker and certainly would have heard about it if there was a company by that name here on Tatooine.

"Uncle Owen," He began, only to be cut off.

"I thing we need to get out of the suns." Beru said, clearly not wanting to have this conversation yet. "I don't think the garage was damaged and it has it's own cooling system. I'll get some water and some cups from the house and I'll meet you there. Go on now." She shooed the men toward the correct door and headed into the house.

_ The damage really isn't that bad._ She surmised upon entering. The common room was in ruins, but they had hardly used it anyway, only for entertaining which they hardly ever did. The house would smell bad for a few days and there was some smoke damage, but it could have been worse. _Much worse,_ she thought, remembering that they had still been inside when the fire was set.

She hurried into the kitchen, remembering her self-appointed task. Thankfully, it was undamaged. She found a stack of glasses and a pitcher of water and started out the door, but then thought better and returned. In a storage closet she found several folding chairs on a repulser cart and took those too, remembering that there was no seating in the garage.

She walked in on a very strange sight indeed.

Luke had pulled the speeder into it's regular space and was sitting crosslegged on the front. Owen was leaning on a nearby wall, and Obi Wan was sitting on an old crate he had found. The three of them seemed to be _talking_.

"No, I had to completely rebuild the repulsors," Luke was saying. "The ones that came with it didn't have a fast enough recovery time, the speeder would have hit the ground everytime I hit the breaks.

"Surely the factory installed repulsors would have worked, this is a very nice model, after all." Obi Wan said, curious.

Luke looked a bit sheepish, but wouldn't lie. "I kinda tweaked the engines a bit. This baby will go more than three times faster than normal speed, almost four times on the straight streatches."

Owen gave him a stern look. "And how, exactly, would you know _that_, Luke Skywalker?"

Beru decided that was her cue and cleared her throat. She pushed the repulsor cart toward the group and Luke jumped up just in time to catch it. She set the pitcher and cups out on the workbench, pushing some parts out of the way to do so, and poured.

Luke set up some chairs and everyone sat. Now that the conversation had been disrupted, none of the men were sure of how to begin. Beru looked from her husband, to her nephew, to her old friend. "Do I have to do everything?" She asked and was met with questioning stares. "Isn't anyone going to say anything?" More stares. "Well, then, I guess I will talk because I certainly have better things to do than sit here and stare at you three all day. Luke, you had a question, outside, what was it?"

"Oh, I was just gonna say that there was no such thing as 'Skywalker Manufacturing,' At least, not on this planet."

Beru smiled at him. "Dear, I'm pretty sure that's because your father made it up. Of course, I didn't know him then, but Shmi was always saying how imaginitive he was."

"Beru!" Owen cried, recovering from his initial shock at her words.

"It's too late, Owen. If you wanted to do the talking, you should have said something earlier. I gave you plenty of opportunity, now it's my turn. Luke, I'm pretty sure your father is the one who built C3-PO. He built a protocol droid before he left home, to help his mother around the house. That droid had the same call letters. He took C3-PO with him after her funeral. He had an astromech following him around then, I'm pretty sure now that was Artoo."

"My father built a droid?"

"Yes, if you can believe it, he was nine at the time. He was something of a genius with mechanical things. Of course, I didn't know him well. I only met him once, when he was about your age. That was for Shmi's funeral and he didn't stay long. He left with that pretty girl. She was someone very important, I think she was a senator or something. Obi Wan could probably tell you more, if he's willing to talk. All I know are the stories Shmi told me." Beru looked pointedly at Obi Wan who looked down at the floor. He answered without looking up.

"Her name was Padmè Amidala Naberrie. She was Senator of Naboo and Anakin was assigned to protect her. He left in a hurry because he wanted to rescue me." Obi Wan stopped and looked at Beru miserably.

Beru was tired of all this secrecy. She knew how much Luke longed to know the truth. The only question now was, how much time did they have to tell him. She knew that Luke had to leave with Obi Wan. That became clear as soon as the storm troopers had shown up. Right now, she needed to convince Owen and Luke of that.

"But that is a very long story best saved for another day." She said, much to the old Jedi's relief. "Right now Luke only needs to know the parts that will help him on Alderaan. You will have plenty of time to tell him the rest later." Obi Wan's face fell but Beru's tone left no room for argument.

"But Aunt Beru, I'm not going to Alderaan. You and Uncle Owen need me here for the harvest..."

"Right now there are people who need you more. Obi Wan told you your father was a Jedi?" She gesture toward the lightsabre he was still wearing and he nodded. "Good, I can't say that I know a lot about that sort of thing, but I know you will do more good training to be a Jedi with Obi Wan than you will sitting around here."

Owen got as far as opening his mouth before Beru said, "Owen, drink your water and stay quiet unless you have something constructive to say. I don't know what those droids are carrying and I don't want to know. I'm getting far too old to go running aroung waving a blaster and I wouldn't be any help to a group of freedom fighters but I know that there wouldn't be a Star Destroyer hovering about up there if it wasn't very important."

All three looked at her now, clearly startled. "Mrs, Darklighter told me her daughter saw it in their telescope when I spoke to her on the comm this morning. What, you think all we women talk about is recipes and kitchen cleaners?" She looked at them indignantly.

This time Beru allowed the silence. She'd had her say and was going to make one of the men speak next. True to fashion, the only trained diplomat spoke first.

"Luke, I have to take these droids to Bail Organa, on Alderaan. If you came with me you could begin training. You could be a Jedi."

Owen started to speak again and paused at his wife's stern glare. He thought a moment and sighed. His next words startled everyone. "Luke, you should go. Beru is right, we don't need you here as much as they need you out there and much as I hate to say it," He stopped and took a deep breath, "you will probably make a good Jedi."

Speechless is not the correct word to describe the people in the room at that moment, it is a terrible understatement. Obi Wan was in such disbelief he nearly protested out of shock. Beru had known he would come around, but had expected it to take longer. Luke wasn't even sure he had ever heard his uncle say that many words in a row, let alone the ones he had just uttered.

"Do you really think I could be a Jedi?" Luke hardly dared breath for fear that this was a dream and would change if he said the wrong thing.

Beru smiled again. Her little boy was growing up. "Yes, dear, I think you can. That is, if Obi Wan is agreeable."

"Yes, of course. But I warn you now, it won't be easy."

Luke stood, determined to do this. "I understand. I will do my best."

"Good, now that that is setlted, Luke, you go pack a bag, I'll get you something to eat that you can take with you. Owen, you and Obi Wan get the speeder ready to take them to Mos Eisely." Beru turned to leave, draging Luke behind her.

They said their goodbye's out front. Beru hugged Luke first, then a surprised Obi Wan. "You take care of my little boy, you hear me?" She scolded him, smiling to soften the blow. "And I am very much aware that it takes almost four days to reach Alderaan from here, so you make sure you tell him some stories about Anakin, maybe tell him about his mother? I would have already, but I don't even know the poor woman's name."

Obi Wan raised an eyebrow, "Yes, you do. Her name was Padmè Amidala Naberrie."

Beru squinted at him and nodded sharpely. "I should have guessed, he looks just like her when he argues with Owen."

Owen stepped up beside his wife. "Son, I don't know if I ever told you this, but I'm proud of you." He hugged his nephew, who was too shocked to even breath. Luke grinned suddenly and held on to the man as if his life depended on it. All his life he had wanted to do one thing, make this man proud of him, now it turned out that he had. Beru's eyes teared suddenly and she turned her face to the wind to dry it.

When Luke broke the hug, she turned to him and grabbed his hand. "It's not much, I was planning to give it to you when you left for the academy. It should help on your trip."

She had pressed into his palm a pouch of credit chips. He opened the top and gaped at the contents. "Aunt Beru, where did you..."

"One credit here, one there over the course of eighteen years. Just take it, I have the feeling that it will help." She hugged him again and gave him a little push toward the speeder. "Now go on, before you set me crying again. Owen will drive so he can bring the speeder back. I'll start cleaning up."

The three took off in the crowded speeder and Beru smiled sadly wondering when she would see the boy again. She watched as the speeder disappeared from view. _Look out galaxy, there's a Skywalker coming!_

End.


	2. Coming Home

Well, back by popular demand (and because the bunny won't stop chewing on my shoelaces), it's Chapter 2!

I know I said it was a One shot but the lock broke off his cage and the bunny is running loose. This is just after ROTJ, Either Truce at Bakura has already happened or it just isn't going to happen at all, it doesn't show up in this story so you might as well ignore it.

The trilogy happened exactly the same except for the events of Chapter One of this story. Luke used the money Beru gave him to pay Han (Instead of selling the speeder, isn't that clever of me). The two of them resued Leia, Obi Wan died, etc.

To the wonderfully fabulous people who encouraged that darn bunny...

**MistiWhitesun:** Yes I am a night person, I am also flattered. You are right about writing it in a hurry though winces I looked it over once I read your review and this Chapter _has_ been spellchecked. I debated for a while and decided not to 'fix' chapter one though.

**skywalker05:** Hey thanks! I always wanted Beru to have a bigger part than she did in the movies. I know it's a bit unbelievable, but this is what I think she would say.

**kayladie:** I was quite proud of the speeder conversation. I didn't want everyone just sitting and staring at each other so I thought about what usually happens when my parents see eachother, they find a safe topic that no one can get offended by. Anyway, here's Chapter 2, I hope you like it, chapter three is coming, eventually.

**Kazzy:** I have the same complaints about Luke and Leia's mother. I'm glad you noticed the parallels. One of my pet peeves is when authors try too hard to find similarities between Luke and Anakin, but it is almost as bad to leave that angle out completely. I'm glad you think I did it right. As for Luke resembling his mother, it just seemed like a good idea at the time.

**BTW:** to everyone else, Kazzy's 'A Moment in Time' is absolutely wonderful and you should definitely read it!

**from the silent planet:** Ask and Ye Shall Recieve! Beru is back and still taking over. It's post ROTJ and Luke brought some friends home!

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A/N Just so y'all know, this story starts post ROTJ (by a few days) in orbit above Tatooine, on board the _Millennium Falcon_...

**"Isn't Anyone Going to Say Anything?"Chapter 2 - After Return of the Jedi**

"Well, this is it. Home. It's not much to look at, but there it is."

"I'm sure it's wonderful Luke." Leia leaned against her brother and looked out the viewport at Tatooine. He hadn't been sure he wanted to return, but Leia had insisted on going once she learned she had more family and Luke knew he couldn't let her go alone.

"It's terrible. It's hot, it's sandy, it's dry, but it's where I grew up and it will be good to see it again, now that I don't have any friends to rescue." He sighed and turned to Leia. "Are you ready?"

"I think I should be asking you that." Leia responded, not entirely sure how her brother would be feeling. She looked into his eyes.

"It's been four years, Leia. I don't think I will ever be ready, but I have to go."

"You make it sound like a chore. They raised you, is it so hard to visit them?"

Luke sighed and ran one hand through blond hair that had darkened considerably without constant sun-bleaching. "You don't understand. So much has changed. I've changed. I've done pretty much everything Uncle Owen never wanted me to even _know_ about. I just couldn't bear to know they were disappointed in me."

"Luke," Leia took his chin in her hand and made him look her in the eye. "They could never be disappointed in you. The reasons they did and said the things they did and said have changed. I'm sure they will be proud of you, I know I am!"

"I hope you're right." Luke smiled a bit and turned back toward the viewport.

Han's voice sounded over the intercom "Better get strapped in, we'll be landing soon."

"You've got the coordinates, right?"

"Kid, like I told you the last three times you asked, I know what I'm doing."

Luke smiled nervously and Leia patted his arm. They strapped in and waited as patiently as they could manage.

/

"Beru! Beru, get out here, there's a ship landing." Owen called down into the courtyard. Beru stuck her head out the door and squinted into the sun.

"Is it anyone we know?"

"I don't recognize it, better get out here."

"I'm coming." Beru shut the door and dashed for the stairs. She stopped next to Owen just in time to see a large freighter settle a hundred yards from where they were standing. The ship looked like it belonged in a junkyard but it was obviously piloted by a pro. The repulsors didn't even scatter any sand.

Once he was down, the pilot turned off the engines. The cockpit was turned away from them so they had no hint of who might be inside. The ramp lowered slowly and Owen and Beru watched as two figures walked down it. At the bottom, the taller of the two paused and the shorter took his hand and pulled him forward.

The shorter one, a woman, was wearing a white senators gown and had her brown hair twisted and piled on top of her head. The taller was male and wore his dark blond hair shaggy. He was dressed in a plain cream colored tunic and pants...

"Luke?" Beru whispered then shouted, "Luke!" She ran forward and grabbed her boy in a tight hug. Owen was only moments behind her, hardly daring to believe that the boy was still alive.

"It's me Aunt Beru, I'm back." He held on to her tightly even as his uncle slapped his back and said, "It's good to have you home, son."

Beru finally let go, realizing she was being rude to her nephew's friend. "Luke, who is your friend?"

Luke's face became serious again. "Aunt Beru, Uncle Owen, I'd like you to meet Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan. Leia, this is my, our, Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen."

Owen froze. Beru, also catching the phrasing he had used, whispered, "Our?"

"So that's where they put her." Owen said. "Royalty, hmm? Well I'll be."

Beru looked at her niece appraisingly, then hugged her as fiercely as she had Luke. "I never thought I'd live to meet you! Where in the galaxy did Luke find you?"

"That's a long story, Aunt Beru. Maybe we should get in out of the suns before we start it." Luke said practically.

The group started toward the house when Luke stopped suddenly. "Where's Han?"

Leia looked around, feeling foolish for doing so, "He must still be on the Falcon."

"You guys go ahead, I'll go get him." Luke said, turning back. He jogged up the ramp and disappeared inside the ship.

Beru wrapped an arm around Leia and steered her toward the steps. "Come on inside dear, he knows the way. I can't wait to hear how you've been."

/

"Han?"

"Yeah kid?" Han was still in the cockpit with Chewie. He had a hydro spanner in his hand and was reaching for a console.

"Aren't you coming?" Luke couldn't hide the disappointment in his voice.

"I don't want to mar the family reunion, kid."

Luke reached out and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You know, you are family too, Han. You and Chewie are the best friends I've ever had, I want my Aunt and Uncle to meet you too, both of you." He nodded at Chewie who ruffled Luke's hair in return.

"Alright kid, if it means that much to you." Han said, feigning exasperation but truly touched. He rose from the pilots seat and was followed by Chewie. They trooped out into the heat.

"I shoulda stayed on the ship, I forgot how hot it is here." Han said, tugging at the neck of his shirt. Chewie howled his agreement but followed a grinning Luke anyway.

"It's cooler in the house, come on." Luke walked quickly toward the steps, barely succeeding in hiding his own discomfort.

Luke knew he shouldn't be, but was surprised at the lack of carbon scoring on the door frame. _It's been four years, like you just told Leia, a lot has changed._ The door was made of a soft plastic instead of the heavy metal door he had grown up with. When he opened it he nearly cried. The front room was almost exactly the same. He looked at a sofa that had been black char the last time he'd seen it and a rug that had been a sooty smear on the floor. Beru walked into the room from the hallway at almost the same moment that Luke noticed his sister and Uncle sitting together on the sofa.

"Hey kid, are we going to stand out here all day or are you going to let us in?" Han said from outside and Luke realized he was blocking the door. He hurried to step inside and Han and Chewie followed.

"More friends?" Beru asked, stepping forward to play hostess.

"This is Captain Han Solo, of the _Millennium Falcon_ and his First Mate Chewbacca." Luke said, quickly remembering his manners. "Han, Chewie, this is Beru and Owen Lars."

"Nice to meet you." Han said, holding out a hand to the now standing Owen.

"Same here." was the reply.

Beru watched her husband and her nephew's friends standing there and couldn't help but smile at the memory of the day Luke left home. "Well sit, sit." She said, motioning toward the sofa and chairs. "I found the holo album, Leia. I have more, of course, but these are the best of the bunch."

Luke realized that his aunt was holding a largish brown book with a picture of him on the front and groaned. "Aunt Beru, I'm sure no one wants to look at..."

"Oh, but I do!" Leia stopped him, her face totally serious. "It hadn't occurred to me before but I mentioned how much I wished we had grown up together and Mrs. Lars..."

"Aunt Beru is fine dear."

"Aunt Beru offered to get her album..."

Luke gave up. His uncle gave him a sympathetic look and he sighed, resigned to embarrassment. Han grinned at him and sat on the other side of Beru, who was sitting next to Leia.

"I bet you were a cute kid." He said, knowing his friends face was turning red.

Luke decided to ignore them and turned to his uncle. "The last time I saw this room it was soot and ashes, how did you manage to make it look..."

"Exactly the same?" His uncle supplied. "Your aunt refused to do anything else. She said she liked it the way it was and wouldn't settle for anything less."

Luke looked around in amazement. He could almost believe no time had passed at all.

"Luke, dear, would you get us all something to drink?" Beru called from he sofa.

"Yes, Aunt Beru." He answered automatically, heading for the kitchen. He paused in the doorway long enough to look back at his family and smile. The kitchen was a bit different. The appliances were new and there were only three chairs at the table now, but the cabinets were the same and the same old mural was on the ceiling. The glasses were even in the same place. He found a tray and filled six huge cups with water.

When he came back nothing had changed except Chewie and Owen were now sitting in chairs at either end of the sofa. Luke set the tray on the low table in the middle of the room and took a seat on the second sofa that faced the one his aunt and sister were sitting on. The large album was now closed and Beru was holding a small silver datapad that Leia must have had in one of her pockets.

"That one is just after we arrived on Hoth. Luke forgot to put the cleats on his boots and, well, you can see the result." Leia explained to a laughing Beru.

Luke shot her a look that clearly said 'you will pay for this' and cleared his throat. "I think we've seen enough pictures. I want to hear how you have been."

"Oh, we've been pretty much the same. You know nothing interesting ever happens here. You spent eighteen years complaining about that very fact." Beru told him. "I want to know, how did you all end up here, together?"

Luke looked from Leia to Han and back at his aunt. Luke started the explanation, since the story started with him. "Well, when Obi Wan and I left here, we hired a ship to take us to Alderaan. Han was the pilot. Only, we got there and, well, I'm sure you heard about Alderaan. It happened just hours before we arrived. Instead there was a huge battle station there. The ship was caught in a tractor beam and we hid inside to keep from being captured."

Luke paused to watch his family. Beru's face was relaxed, after all, Luke was obviously okay. Owen's face was unreadable. "Anyway, we all snuck off the ship and made it look like it was abandoned. Obi Wan went to disable the tractor beam and Han and I discovered Leia was on board. We rescued her, but Obi Wan didn't make it. We got away and took the droids to Alliance high command. They made me a pilot and Han decided to stick around. The rest is, well, the rest."

Owen raised an eyebrow, knowing that was not the whole story but not willing to upset Beru or Luke by asking for information the boy obviously didn't want to give. Beru just grabbed his and Leia's hands and held on to both of them. "My dears, what a horrible way to meet." Beru had tears in her eyes. "I'm so glad you did though. I'm so happy for you both. She raised one hand to Leia's face and looked from her to Luke.

They sat in silence for a moment until Chewie barked a question. Han translated for him. "He wants to know if Beru was Anakin's sister or if Owen was his brother." At the look he received from Owen and Beru he continued. "Family is very important to Chewie, to all wookies. It's just curiosity."

Beru relaxed a bit. "Of course he's curious."

"Anakin was my step brother." Owen explained. "I barely knew him. My father didn't meet Shmi until a couple of years after he left here so I barely knew him. I only saw him a couple of times before..." He trailed off, barely stopping himself in time.

"It's okay Uncle Owen. I know about Vader." Luke said and Beru looked at him horrified. "It's okay, really. He really is dead now and he can't hurt us anymore." Those few words, so simple and childish, spoke volumes. For just a moment, Beru saw the little boy who had hidden under his bed for hours the first time a tusken raider made it through the fence to attack the house.

"Aunt Beru, could you tell me about my grandmother? No one seems to know who she was." Leia changed the topic, if not deftly at least effectively.

"Dear, I'm not surprised. Shmi Skywalker was a tiny girl when Gardula the Hutt bought her and she never left Tatooine after that."

"Bought her?" Leia managed to pack a lifetimes worth of disgust and shock into those two words.

"Yes, when she was very young, your grandmother's family was captured by pirates and sold into slavery. She spent most of her life working for Gardula. Shortly after Anakin was born, Gardula lost both of them to a shopkeeper named Watto in a card game. He owned both of them for over eight years, until a Jedi came and won Anakin."

"My father was a slave?" Luke whispered. He still didn't know anything about his family. Obi Wan had told him a bit about his father on the way to Alderaan, but it had mostly been about the time Anakin spent at the temple.

Beru smiled at him sadly. "I guess old Obi Wan didn't have the chance to tell you much did he? Yes, Anakin was a slave until he was about nine. Then he won a podrace to help a Jedi and a Queen who were stranded here. The Jedi made a bet with Watto and won Anakin's freedom, but couldn't win Shmi's. Anakin left with the Jedi. A few years later, Owen's father met her and fell in love. He bought her from Watto and freed her. She later agreed to marry him."

"It sounds a little like a fairy tale." Leia sighed. "I wish I could have known her."

"I wish you could have too. She was a very nice lady. I only knew her for a few years before she died, but she was one of the kindest people I have ever met." Beru looked at her and tilted her head to the side. "You know, you look just like you're mother?"

"I know. She died when I was still very young, and my adoptive family never spoke of her, but I remember a little."

Beru just looked back and forth between the two. Owen, whom she had nearly forgotten about, spoke up from across the room. "It's getting late. We should figure out sleeping arrangements for everyone."

"Oh, dear me your right. Luke, your old room is exactly like you left it and Leia, you can have the guest room. Owen, would you be a dear and set up a couple of cots in here, we can move the sofas against the wall..."

Han cut her off. "Ma'am, if it's all the same to you, Chewie and I can sleep on the _Falcon_. We're used to it. Besides, the bed on Chewie's cabin is longer than any cot you're likely to have."

"Are you sure, it really is no trouble."

"Quite sure ma'am."

"All right then. Oh, dear, here we are talking about bed and I haven't even started dinner." Beru stood quickly. "I'll just go see what I can find to eat. Luke, show your sister her room and help her bring in her bags."

"Yes Aunt Beru." Luke answered automatically. He rose and offered a hand to Leia. The two of them headed for the hall, leaving Owen, Han and Chewie alone.

"So, you're a pilot? You own that hunk of junk out there?" Owen asked Han.

"Hey, she might not look like much, but she's got it where it counts. I would like to point out that she's saved your nephews rear end on more than one occasion..."

/

Luke heard Han bragging as he walked away and grinned. He pulled on Leia's hand as he led her down the hallway. "That's Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen's room, here's the 'fresher, here's my room, and here's where you'll be sleeping." He named the doors as they went by, stopping in front of the last. He reached for the old fashioned knob and turned, letting the door swing open on it's own.

Leia gasped as the room was slowly revealed. The walls were the same sandy color as the rest of the house but the ceiling was painted in bright greens. The scene was a garden with a waterfall. On a bench sat two young people, one a sandy haired young man, the other a short young woman with her hair in braids. Neither's face could be seen. The image was completed by a rainbow of light that scattered across the entire ceiling.

"Grandmother painted the mural. The light comes from the window on the wall."

"I thought we were underground?" Leia asked, not taking her eyes off the ceiling.

"We are, it's cooler that way. There are tunnels into most of the rooms that bring light. This one was inset with prisms when the mural was painted." Luke walked over to the wall and stood next to the glimmering panel. He looked around at the effect. "This was always my favorite room growing up."

/

Quite a while later, Beru realized how quiet the house had become. Dinner was almost ready so she finished quickly and went to find everyone. In the main room, Owen, Han, and Chewbacca were discussing something about shipping costs.

"...but there wouldn't be any profit in it if I didn't mark it up at least twenty percent. Keeping a ship flying isn't cheap you know."

Beru cleared her throat. "Boys, dinner is just about ready, why don't you go get settled and I'll find Luke and Leia." She didn't wait for a response but headed in the direction she had last seen them going. She found the two of them in the guest room.

Luke had made up the bed with fresh linens and he and Leia were lying on top of it, holding hands and staring at the ceiling.

"Children?" She said softly. Neither stirred. She stepped closer and realized they had fallen asleep. She smiled and sat on the edge of the bed next to Luke. She reached out and brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes. "My boy, you've grown so much." She whispered, remembering all the other times she had watched him sleep. After a few moments she remembered that people were waiting. Nudging his shoulder she said quietly, "Luke, Luke darling, wake up."

He murmured for a moment and opened his eyes. He looked around for a moment then raised Leia's hand. "Leia, wake up." He said, turning to look at her but didn't sit up.

Leia seemed to come instantly awake. "Oops." She said simply.

"Yeah, oops." Luke echoed with a smile.

"Did you have a nice nap?" Beru asked them with a smile.

Leia smiled and Luke winced. "We didn't mean to fall asleep. We were looking at the mural and trying to figure out who the people were."

Beru looked up. "I don't know. I used to think it was someone your grandmother remembered from when she was very small. For a while I thought it might be your parents, but that was before I met your father. He was quite a bit taller than that, you know."

"I thought you didn't know mother?" Luke asked confused.

"Oh I knew her, I just didn't know she was your mother. Not until just before you left when Obi Wan told me. Your grandmother knew her too. She never saw your parents married, but always believed they would be together someday. I always thought she imagined this was how your father would look, but now I'm not so sure."

"What do you think now?" Leia's voice was barely audible. She was already pretty sure she knew the answer.

Beru, whose voice had gotten quieter and quieter as she spoke, answered as expected. "I think Shmi painted the two of you."

"How could she..."

Beru just smiled. "How, indeed. I'm a simple woman. My greatest goal in life has always been to have a home and raise a family. There is much in this galaxy that I was never meant to understand." Luke and Leia were still holding hands, Beru took their clasped hands in both of hers and held them tight. "Your family, your legacy, is a special one. It started with Shmi. I believe that she was allowed to see some of that. I hope that is was some comfort to her."

Beru raised her eyes to the ceiling, still not letting the childrens' hands go. "I've often cursed the galaxy in general for the way some people, good people like Shmi, were forced to live. A slave since she was a child, she was given a son who was taken away while he was still very young. She lived a few years in happiness here and was then captured and tortured by raiders. I like to think that she knew, on some level, what she started, and that knowledge gave her comfort.

"I look at that picture and I see the two of you on a rich, lush, green world, wanting for nothing without a care in the world. I see poor Shmi Skywalker standing on a stool with paint smears on her grinning face and a brush and palette in hand telling Cleigg that he has the prism upside down. I see your grandmother, and then your father and mother, and then the two of you, each in turn lying on this very bed looking at that image and wondering. I see these things and I don't mind how unfair the galaxy is sometimes because I know that sometimes the galaxy gets it right." Beru fell silent.

After a moment she looked back at the twins whose eyes had never left her face. She dropped their hands from hers and smiled quickly. "But then, here I am waxing poetic at the two of you and all I wanted to do was tell you supper was ready."

.

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Continued in Ch. 3... Keep reading.

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	3. Coming Home

Well, here's Chapter 3. I guess no one is interested, based on the number of reviews Chapter 2 got... I had this ready at almost the same time as Chapter two but I thought I'd wait a few day so I could respond to your reviews when I posted this... That didn't really work out though.

Well, I am going to assume no one saw Chapter two yet because this got burried so quickly, so here's chapter 3.

I'm not going to threaten not to finish because I will do that whether anyone reads this or not. That darn bunny followed me to work yesterday, I have to get rid of him before he causes any trouble. To those of you who reviewed...

**MistiWhitesun:** I'm pretty sure the last time I saw 7 AM it wasn't cause Iwas up early, but because I was up very late! I don't do mornings at all. (I'm always shocked when I find out someonw posted at like 6 AM, I think, 'what on earth would posess anyone to be up at such an ungodly hour?' but thats me.) Time zones are waht really throw me. Some one will ask if I was up early or late when I reviewed their story at three AM and It was really two in the afternoon! I'm at GMT -06:00 if anyone was wondering.

I was quite proud of the mural idea myself. I'm glad you liked it. We already know that Shmi painted the one in the kitchen, so I figured she would have painted others too. Not to mention I feel about the same as Beru (imagine that!) about what happened to the poor woman. I just don't think it was fair. So, anyway, there it is.

**Namonaki Pharoh:** Yeah, I like the mural too. I really wanted Luke to have something to show off to Leia. I got the idea from my grandmothers house. She didn't have a mural or anything, but there was this one bedroom upstairs that I just loved when I was little...

/

/

**A/N** I put a lot of Luke/Leia stuff in this one, I hope you like it. I'm still not sure about the dream sequence so let me know what you think. I also did some Jedi stuff. I've never really written that before so let me know if I got it wrong. Basically, this whole chapter is kinda iffy, so I need lots of help!

/

/

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**"Isn't Anyone Going to Say Anything?"**Chapter 3

/

Dinner wasn't anything special and the conversation alternated between the Skywalker family history and the events of the last four years. Han and Chewie both had little to contribute on either subject, but found the conversation fascinating. The story sounded like something from a holovid. Several times the person telling the story, usually Beru, had to back up and start over because one or more of the persons at the table became confused.

Han, for his part, couldn't stop watching Leia. He was seated on the same side of the table as Beru and Chewie, so Leia was nearly across from him as was Luke and Owen. He couldn't help noticing the way she smiled when some one mentioned her mother. The way she tilted her head to the side when she asked a question didn't escape his notice either. Also when ever she took a drink from her cup, for just a moment, she would look up through he eyelashes and for just an instant she looked so soft and vulnerable that he wanted to hold her close and protect her.

But he didn't mention a word of this. In fact, Han Solo barely said a word all through out dinner. Owen Lars was the only one who noticed. As the twins only male relative he felt an obligation to protect the two of them. Watching their friends was an important part of that duty. Owen watched Han very carefully and noticed the way the man was looking at his niece. He wasn't sure yet if he liked it.

"What in the galaxy would I do on Coruscant?" Beru laughed at the idea. "I've done one thing in my life, that's farm. I haven't ever been there, but I hear there isn't much call for farmers on Coruscant. No, dear, I think I'll just stay here."

"But Aunt Beru..." Leia started, not willing to give in that easily. She should have known better.

"My dear, I am perfectly happy living on this backwater world that is, in my nephew's phrasing, 'as far from the bright center of the universe as you can get.' I have no need to uproot myself and my husband just to reduce flying time."

"But Aunt Beru..."

"No 'but's' child. I'm not moving to Coruscant just to sit around a stagnate. I like it here."

Luke saw the look on his sister's face and broke in. "Better leave it alone Leia, you won't convince her. Believe me, I've tried."

"Traitor. I thought you were on my side."

"In this instance, I'm on the winning side." Luke said.

Leia gave the most proper response she could think of, one she had spent years perfecting in the royal courts on Alderaan. She stuck her tongue out at him.

Luke threw a piece of food at her. She reached for some of her own food and Beru called a truce. The two agreed to a temporary one and silence ruled the table.

Everyone had pretty well finished eating my this time and it was starting to get late. Luke said as much and stood, starting to clear the table.

"No, dear, you go. I'll get this." Beru took the dishes from him and shoed the guests away from the table. "Go on. You can show our guests around the farm, Owen and I will clean up."

So Luke, not particularly wanting to clean up anyway, led Han, Leia and Chewie around the farm. "That's about it. It ain't much." Luke told them afterwards as they stood outside in the rapidly cooling air. When he spoke he unconsciously slipped into a slight drawl.

Chewie gave a few barks and Han translated automatically even though the kid now seemed to understand most everything the alien said. "He wants to know why, when you and Leia and everyone came to rescue me, you didn't stop by and see your folks. You know, at least tell them you were okay?" Chewbacca had originally thought that Luke didn't get along with his family, something he had recently come to understand, but now that he had met them and seen the way they got along, that didn't seem to fit.

Luke just stared out at the setting suns. Leia came up beside him and took his hand for support. After a long enough time Han was considering repeating the question, Luke answered. "I don't know for sure. I guess I was worried about what they would think of me."

"I don't know much about family, kid. I never really had one myself, but they seem to be proud of you. I may be out of line, but why wouldn't they be?"

The first sun dropped below the horizon as they watched and Leia sighed. Luke was holding tightly to her hand as if it were a lifeline. He chuckled softly for just a moment then answered with a question. "Knowing what you do about my family history, what do you think my childhood was like?"

Han thought about it for a moment. "Well, I guess they would want to protect you."

"That's right." Luke agreed, prompting Han to continue. "And how would they do that?"

"Well, I guess you stay out of sight. No putting your name anywhere any imperial might see it. And they wouldn't want you to do anything that might call attention to yourself." That was the basic set of rules for hiding no matter who you were.

"That's right. Nothing even remotely interesting because they might find me, but I couldn't know that because I might let something slip. You wouldn't think of this, but I've always had strange things happen to me too. Knowing things before they happen, _hearing_ things like the electron fence going down when everyone swore it didn't make any sound audible to humans. Knowing where the missing hydro spanner was. I know no that was the force, but I didn't then. I got in trouble for it anyway though."

He stopped and looked at Han to see if the old smuggler was making the connection. What he didn't realize was Han had caught on long ago. "Old habits die hard?" Han said with a wry grin.

Luke nodded. Chewie said he still didn't understand.

"Even though they gave their blessing, Luke here still felt like the old rules were still in effect. He felt bad every time something happened that he thought his aunt and uncle wouldn't approve of." Han filled in the blanks for him, putting it much more bluntly than Luke would have.

"Which was most of the last four years." Luke finished when he saw comprehension in his eyes. "I guess I was afraid they wouldn't approve and it was easier to be afraid than to risk finding out my fears were well founded. I'm glad I came now though."

"I'm glad you did too." A voice said from the doorway. The trio turned away from the remaining sun, which was now nearly invisible, to see Owen Lars standing at the top of the steps. "Don't miss the sunset on my account. It's the best part of having two of them you know."

Leia turned back first and the rest of the group followed. "You know I envy your getting to see this everyday."

The old farmer shrugged. "I grew up here. I've been a few other places, but this is what I know. I'll pass on something I learned in my life, Every place has it's advantages and disadvantages. You have to take both no matter what."

"Now there's a life lesson if I ever heard one." Han said. "Sounds like an old smugglers saying. 'Every deal has a pay off and a cost. Happiness is picking the deals that come out even in the end.' "

Owen looked at the smuggler, who wasn't looking at anything in particular. He thought he was starting to like the man. "Words to live by. I was coming out to say I'm turning the power off soon. It would probably be a good idea to move the party inside. Oh, Han, the electrofence comes on automatically in about twenty minutes, so I would recommend you get to your ship before then, since you're parked outside of it."

"Thanks for the warning." He turned to Chewie, "What do you say fuzzball, time to turn in?"

Chewie howled an affirmative and made a comment about long days and too much information. "I agree whole heartedly. I know I'm ready for a good old fashioned space battle, all this mushy stuff is gonna rot my brain."

As they were walking away, Luke and Leia caught Chewie's comment about Han's brain already having been turned to rot thanks to all that 'fine Correlian ale' that he insisted on drinking even though it smelled like something that had been dead too long.

"Come inside now, Beru will think the raiders got us if we stay out here much longer." Owen said taking the twins by the hand and leading them to the stairs.

/

Once inside, Owen sat down with his bookkeeping and Beru dragged Leia into the sitting room to look over some holos or something and Luke was left on his own. He wandered the house idly for a few moments and found himself in his own bedroom for the first time in four years.

For several moments, he just stood in the middle of the room. Everything was exactly as he left it. _Everything._ He picked up a datapad off his desk and discovered, when he turned it on, that it was on the same page he had left it on. It displayed an almost complete application to the Imperial Academy and a low power symbol. He set the pad back down and sat on the edge of the bed which Beru must have put fresh sheets on this evening by the lack of mustiness in the scent.

Luke sat there on the edge of his old bed and opened up that connection to the force that he had shut down somewhere in orbit. He hadn't wanted to have that on his mind too when he arrived, but now that everything was quiet, he accessed it again. He felt Leia, first. While she wasn't trained, she could feel him open up and reached for him unconsciously. He reassured her that everything was alright and turned his attention away from her.

Next he looked for and found his aunt and uncle. Beru shone with love, caring and strength, just like he had thought she would. Owen showed a similar strength and an unexpected tenderness. Luke smiled at that. He had always known that his uncle cared more than he let on, but it was nice to see it.

The farm in general just felt familiar. The Jedi could remember feeling this in a vague way before, and was reassured that nothing much had changed. Luke grinned as he 'heard' the electrofence come on.

After a few more moments of reminiscing, Luke turned to his desk and started straightening things up. He put most of the flimsies in a drawer and dropped the datapads in a pile. Chuckling quietly at his recent tendency toward neatness, he tossed a few sheets of flimsy in the recycle bin next to the desk. After a while, someone rapped quietly on the door. "Come in" He called to whomever was waiting.

The door slid open and Leia walked in, now dressed in plain sleep clothes with her hair down. She flopped on the bed and looked at him. "What are you doing?"

He shrugged. "Just cleaning my room. It's a new habit I seem to have acquired."

Leia looked around appraisingly. Her brown eyes took in the narrow shelves filled with holochips and trinkets. She spotted the models hanging from wires in the ceiling and she noticed the quickly filling recycle bin next to the desk. "I'm not sure I would want to come back to my old bedroom after four years away. It must be terribly disconcerting." She stood and wandered toward the shelves on the far wall.

"Just a bit. So much has changed, and so much is exactly the same."

Leia picked up a stack of holochips and read off the titles. " 'The adventures of Commander Wes Trevor, Acrobatics to impress your friends, A history of interstellar navigation...' :"

"Give me those." He took them from her and set them back on the shelf. His sister chucked at him.

"A bit obsessed with flying?"

The Jedi shrugged, knowing he didn't have to explain.

Leia fingered a small model of an x-wing. It was smooth and cool, almost like... "That's metal!" She said surprised. Models were usually made of plastic and simply fitted together. This one was metal and looked like it had been welded.

"Yeah, I couldn't make the plastic look right when I reshaped it so I started using metal." At her blank stare he backed up. "I didn't have enough money to buy the models I wanted so I looked up the schematics for ships when I could find them and found pictures when I couldn't and made them from scratch."

The princess picked up the toy reverently, realizing the hours that must have been spent on it. She opened the cockpit canopy of the tiny fighter and could see the almost microscopic heads up display painted inside.

She set it back in it's space and reached for another on a higher shelf. Even on tip toe she couldn't quite reach. Luke was about to step forward and help her when the model leapt off the shelf into her waiting hand. Leia dropped the toy as if it had burned her. To her amazement, it dove toward the floor then rose back up and started orbiting her head as if the Y-wing was actually being piloted.

Leia turned to her brother, furious. "You scared me! Don't do that with out saying something first!"

"I just saved myself the trouble of having to repaint it. They don't make that particular shade anymore you know."

"You mean you didn't..." Leia sank to the floor in shock. The fighter settled inconspicuously back on the shelf as Luke joined her.

"Nope, that was all you. You should probably get used to it, it used to happen to me all the time. I'm surprised it hasn't happened to you before." Luke considered telling her that she would be able to stop things like that from happening if she trained in the force, but decided this was not the best time. They were both tired and on information overload and the last thing he wanted was to upset her further.

"It... I... I'm not..." Leia stuttered for a bit, then gave up and shook her head.

"It must be all the time you've been spending around me. Your picking it up subconsciously." Luke took her hands in his and she drew comfort from his touch. Luke caught her eye and said, "Your doing it again you know."

"Doing what... I am?"

He nodded. "You are automatically reaching out. You do it every time you get upset or frustrated."

Leia's demeanor changed from shock to anger. Luke sensed it and was glad he hadn't said anything a moment ago. "I don't want this! I don't need this happening to me too!" She said, letting go of him and standing. Luke caught her shoulder and held on to her. She was beginning to wonder if this trip was such a great idea after all.

"It's not happening to you, your doing it." Luke snapped, barely stopping his own frustration from getting the better of him. He continied more gently. "Besides, it won't hurt you. The force is all around you, you probably aren't doing anything you haven't done all your life. Don't fight it just because you know why now." Leia calmed slightly at his words. Of course he was right. _It must be the stress of today._ She thought._ There has been so much happening, and I've learned so much..._

"I'm sorry, Luke. I don't know why I got mad."

"It's okay. I think Han was right. It's been a long day. Come on, I'll walk you to your room." He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and guided her out the door. It felt so nice to be taken care of that Leia relaxed and allowed it. In the guest room he turned down the lights and pulled back her covers.

"It's been a long time since anyone tucked me in." She gigged as she slid into bed. "I am tired though. How do you always know exactly what I need?"

He laughed "I'm your big brother, it's my job."

She yawned and Luke started for the door. "No wait! Would you stay here for a while?" She asked quietly. _Blame it on the stress of the day._ She thought when she realized what she'd said.

Luke came back and crawled into the other side of the bed. They lay and faced each other without saying a word until they both fell asleep.

/

He saw a pair of brown eyes, She saw a pair of blue ones. He reached out with a hand that did not yet know what it was doing and saw her reaching back. Their fingers touched and both of them giggled. A warm familiar voice said, "I won't do it, not even to save their lives. It's too cruel."

Some one else spoke, a voice they didn't recognize, "That is what it will come to."

She was angry. The warm voice was sad and She didn't like it when the warm voice was sad. "It's not fair!" said the warm voice.

The stranger spoke again, "No it's not fair, but you know it has to happen. You don't have a choice unless you want to lose them both."

"I won't do it yet. Give them a few days at least. It's the least we can do."

"A few days, no more Padme. I'm not sure we can spare days but we will delay as long as we can."

He looked at Her and tried to memorize Her. She did the same. Both knew they didn't have much time. They didn't have to understand what the stranger said, they could feel it.

"Padme, I don't think we can wait a few days." There was fear in the stranger's voice.

"What! Why not?"

"They are reaching for each other. I can feel it. If I can feel it, so will he. He is their flesh and blood."

"But how can they, that are only hours old. They can't possibly do something like that." The warm voice denied the strangers claims.

The stranger answered "Who knows what they can do? We have to keep them safe."

Suddenly He was ripped away from Her. His hand was taken from Hers and she couldn't see him, couldn't feel him anymore. She screamed.

"What did you do!" The warm voice cried, picking Her up.

"I'm blocking them. If they keep that up every force sensitive in the galaxy will be drawn to them. We have to put so much distance between them that they can't reach each other under any circumstances. I can't keep blocking them. Even at my most subtle, I'm still very visible and he's looking for me too."

She was being held close to the warm voice. Nearby she saw the source of the other voice and then spotted Him. She reached for Him again and brushed Him for just a moment, then He was gone again.

"Padme, we can't wait. She just pushed me aside like I wasn't even there. I'll have to hope they are stronger when they are together or else no place in the galaxy will be far enough away."

The warm voice was trembling with tears when it said, "Go then. Take care of him."

"Like he was my own M'Lady."

He felt Her touch and tried to reach back but She was gone. He felt the warm voice kiss Him and He felt a tear on His forehead and then the stranger took Him away.

He reached out every day after that. Sometimes, when He was hurt or scared, He could find Her. She always reached back. A few times She found Him. He always reached for Her when She did. As time passed they went for longer and longer periods of time without even trying. Sometimes, though, they still found each other, like right now...

/

Luke woke slowly to the sight of Leia doing the same. The dream that wasn't a dream was still there and he knew that she'd shared it with him. He felt a tear fall down his cheek and Leia reached for his face to brush it away.

"I missed you." He said.

She leaned toward him until their foreheads touched. "I missed you too."

"Do you think it really happened that way?"

"Probably."

"Was that how mother really was?"

"All the time."

"I wish I remembered her."

"I wish you did too. I wish I remembered you." She said

"Me too." He agreed.

They lay like that for a long while, just basking in their shared memories and the feeling of each others presence. After a time Leia said "I wonder what time it is?"

"Oh, just after first sunrise."

"Do you think anyone else is up yet?"

He smiled. "You forget, your on a farm. Uncle Owen has been up for hours. Aunt Beru always gets up at first dawn."

"Oh. How long do you think before breakfast is ready?"

"It's probably waiting on us." He told Leia, still looking into her face from only a few inches.

"Good, I'm starved."

"Me too. We should probably get dressed and get something to eat."

They both sat up at the same time and Luke headed for the door. Leia found some clothes in her travel bag. Ten minutes later they met in the kitchen fully dressed in clean clothes. As predicted, Owen and Beru had been up for quite some time and breakfast was waiting on them.

"Good morning, did you sleep well?" Aunt Beru asked as they settled at the table.

"Like a baby." Luke answered, earning a giggle from Leia who was still a bit sleepy. She was enjoying not having to be instantly alert for a change.

Beru noticed the look that passed between the two and knew something had happened, but was pretty sure that is wasn't anything bad and could therefore wait until after breakfast. She poured juice for Leia and set a plate in front of Luke who didn't wait for his juice.

Han and Chewie arrived in the kitchen a few moments later. Han was wearing clean clothes and he had obviously just scrubbed his hands but the grease smear on his cheek said that he's been up early working on the _Falcon_

"Good Morning everyone." the smuggler said earning a chorus of mumbled 'Hi.'s and 'Mornin's.

Han was not deterred from his cheerful mood. He had just discovered that a shop in Mos Eisely had the parts he needed to upgrade the sublight engines. Between that and the marvelous dream he'd had about Leia last night, nothing could get him down. "Something smells wonderful Mrs. Lars."

Beru was also in a good mood and wasn't going to let a compliment go by unnoticed. "Well, you should sit down and eat then. I made plenty but it's getting cold."

"Well that is just not acceptable." Han agreed. "What do you say we solve the problem for her Chewie?"

Chewie didn't say anything, having burned himself badly trying to patch a bulkhead this morning which put him in a bad mood.

Owen walked in a few moments later and Han was in a good enough mood that he risked asking for a favor. "Mr. Lars, I was wondering if I could get a ride to Mos Eisley today. I wanted to pick up some parts for the _Falcon_ and I hate to have to deal with traffic control for such a short hop..."

Owen didn't get a chance to answer. Beru spoke up. "I'd be happy to give you a ride. I was planning on going to Anchorhead today but I could just as easily get what I need in Mos Eisley and they have a better selection there. I'm afraid the speeder only seats four though, so some of us are going to have to stay behind."

Chewie barked an answer right away and Han translated, "Chewie doesn't like speeders so he'd just as soon stay here."

"Problem solved then." Owen said. "I don't like Mos Eisley so I'll stay too."

"Perfect!" Beru said cheerfully. "Luke, Leia, you two are coming right?"

They agreed and the whole group headed out as soon as the breakfast dishes were done. Leia went back to change clothes before they left, wanting something less conspicuous than her senators garb. When they left, she was dressed in some of Luke's old clothes, which were a bit too big but would fit in nicely. Han stuck with his smugglers garb and Luke was dressed the same as yesterday, a long tunic and light colored pants.

For the trip in, Beru drove with Han in the passenger seat and Luke and Leia sharing the back. After they got in, Luke reached over and tugged on one of Leia's braids. She had twisted her hair into two of them, one on either side of her head, and they hung down her chest to the hem of her tunic. "You do realize you look about twelve dressed that way?" He teased.

"Yeah, well, I never got to be twelve so I thought I'd try it today." She retorted, not really caring how she looked. She had spent most of her life so far worrying about what impression she would make on others and today she was taking a day off.

Luke just smirked at her and she raised an eyebrow at him, an expression that frustrated him because he couldn't do it. He tugged at her braid again. "Aunt Beru, he's touching me!" She called to the front of the speeder, startling Han.

"She started it!" called Luke, not willing to give up the game.

"Did not!

"Did too!"

Beru glanced back at them and caught on when she saw the mischievous grins on their faces. She played along, not wanting to spoil their fun. "Don't make me stop the speeder." She warned, merry eyes spoiling her harsh tone.

Han was lost and a bit worried that his friends had finally snapped. He turned in his seat to look at Leia with concern. She saw the look on his face and doubled up laughing. Han was relieved.

"Luke, we better stop, were scaring Han." Leia managed to catch her breath enough to say.

"Han needs to lighten up. The war's over old buddy, have some fun!" Luke told him.

Han muttered something about insanity apparently being a Skywalker family trait. Beru stared straight ahead so he wouldn't think she was laughing at him. She was glad her family was home and happy. There had been far too much sadness and seriousness lately and she was content to surround herself with happy, laughing people for as long as it would last.

As the speeder pulled into Mos Eisley Beru turned to Han and said, "Welcome to the Family dear."

/

/

End Chapter 3. Chapter 4 is coming but it will be a few more days. I might get it up sooner though if I get some reviews...


	4. Coming Home

Hello again.

I've decided to call the bunny Fred, we're moving in together next week. We are very happy.

I wasn't going to post this yet, but this story just kinda disappeared from the listings and I wanted to fix the glitch. I hope uploading a new chapter does it.

You see, now I don't have anything in reserve so you all are going to have to wait for me to write the next part before I can post it. Fred is giving me lots of information, but I haven't had time to write it down yet.

To all the fabulous, wonderful people who keep telling me how great my story is:

**kayladie:** Yes, I missed your review, but I am glad to hear you did see the update, with all the trouble I have been having with FF.N losing my story/chapters I wasn't sure anyone even knew I posted! I'm glad you liked the dream sequence, I was rather worried about it. Whenever I write something serious like that I worry that everyone is going to hate it. When Fred told me to write it I almost cried, but I did it anyway. So, glad you are enjoying it!

**MistiWhitesun:** I look forward to reading your every word. You always tell me waht I'm doing right, which I appreciate. As for sounding like you weren't interested, if you don't specifically say "this sucks" I am going to assume you want more! I'm glad my sense of humor appeals to someone out there, the nice people who sign my paychecks don't always appreciate it.

**SeanWH:** Hi there, I haven't heard from you before, so nice to meet you! Flatterer! My spelling and grammer suck because I have only barely been using spell check and I haven't been proofreading these, but thank you anyway! This story is all fluff, that is what I do best, I can never keep a plot going, I always forget what was going on somewhere in the middle of a food fight. The speeder scene is actually based on what happens just about every time my brother and I get together.

And I owe much kudos to Fred; the friendly plot bunny, he is very clever and he puts me back on track everytime I get lost in a speeder scene.

/

/

**A/N:** Okay, this chapter needs some prefacing, just so you know. I put more Han in it cause Fred thought he was getting left out. This entire chapter ended up being set up for next chapter, I'm not sure how that happened, but it did.

Fred made me write the stuff with Barok. It turns out, Barok has a very interesting life story, I won't tell you what it is here, just in case it comes up again later (Fred won't tell me one way or the other) I don't want to ruin the surprise. If Barok doesn't make another appearance, I promis I will at least post a summary, if I don't post a whole story. So you know, Barok speaks a combination of Corellian, Huttese, and Basic. Everything in another language, is really another language. I didn't make it up, I spent hours of my time researching it. If you realy feel the need to know the translation, feel free to e-mail me or just review this story!

I don't know when they stopped making parts for the YT-1300 freighters. They started manufacturing them about thirty years before ANH, so it's not out of line to think they would stop making them post ROTJ. (can you tell I have way too much free time on my hands?)

I think that is about it, keep in mind, it will be a few more days before chapter 5 goes up so you have lots of time to post reviews!

/

/

**"Isn't Anyone Going to Say Anything?"**

**Chapter 4**

**/**

Mos Eisley is not on the list of top ten tourist sights in the galaxy. It doesn't even rate the top one thousand. There is absolutely nothing there worth going to see. In fact, unless you are currently living on the planet of Tatooine, there is absolutely no reason to go anywhere near Mos Eisley and even residents tend to avoid it if they can. The only reason for going to Mos Eisley is desperation. Unless your name is Han Solo, then you go to Mos Eisley any chance you get.

Quite a while ago, Han had discovered a used parts dealer whose main base was on the outskirts of Mos Eisley and, as he was already on Tatooine, he looked his buddy up. Some time ago the Correlian Engineering Corporation had stopped manufacturing replacement parts for their YT-1300 freighters. Between that and the fact that the _Millennium Falcon_ now contained many parts that weren't strictly 'original', Han was having a terrible time finding the parts he needed to upgrade the _Falcon's_ sub-light engines.

Barok's Rebuilds claimed to have 'any part for any ship you can land at the yard or the owner will buy you a drink.' So far, Han had never earned a single drink from the man.

Upon arriving in Mos Eisley, Beru had dropped Han off at the salvage yard and had taken Luke and Leia shopping with her at their request. Han approached the entrance the way he did everything else, arrogantly.

An aging human sat at the doorway to the fenced yard. The heavyset man was seated on a welded together pile of junk that strongly resembled a throne. When Han approached, the man turned sightless eyes in his direction.

"Chowbaso! No wega mi condorta?" The man called to Han.

"Hello Barok." Han replied respectfully.

"Han Solo! I'd know that walk anywhere." The blind salvage yard owner correctly identified. "What have you done to that beautiful ship of yours now?"

"Absolutely nothing! I'm just boosting her sub-lights. I got a list for you."

"Have you now?" Barok's voice was dripping with greed. The man has realized early on that he could charge a small fortune for his goods if he warrantied them. It didn't matter than only a tiny percentage of beings actually called in the warranty if the part was no good. Barok was now one of the richest beings in the sector. "Jeboe'i! Get in here boy!"

'Jeboe'i' had been working for Barok for as long as anyone could remember. The 'boy' was actually a three foot tall, slender, lavender colored humanoid. No one Han had ever met knew what species he was or where he had come from, but he was good natured. He also made the perfect assistant as he had the intelligence of a child and a mechanical genius that would rival any.

"Jeboe'i, the man has a list." The small alien peeked out from behind the wall timidly, then ran out eagerly when he recognized Han.

"Solo! Solo!" The alien cried in greeting. His high pitched voice slurred the words together in his excitement. "Wha'cha need Solo?"

Han handed him the list and the creature ran off. "I don't know where you found him, Barok, but you sure can pick 'em." Han told his old friend.

"I can pick'em? From what I hear you been pickin' some of your own." The blind man stared hard at Solo.

Han put on his best 'who me?' expression. "What in the galaxy are you talking about old man?"

Barok grinned. "Don't give me that innocent look. You'd be surprised what this blind man can see. I hear tell you found yourself a princess." The old man leered at Han.

"If you want her, your welcome to her! She's absolutely insufferable."

"Ah, the voice of love!" The old man said wisely.

"Is it that obvious?" Han asked, knowing Barok would 'see' it even if it wasn't.

The old man seemed startled for a moment. "My friend, your mellowing with age. Ten years ago you would have denied such a thing to the ends of the galaxy and back She must really be something special!"

"The most beautiful, insufferable, charming, loud mouthed, exquisite, opinionated woman I have ever met! And her family is strange."

Barok laughed loud and long. He laughed so hard he nearly fell out of his chair. "Ooh, Solo, _bona nai kachu_. You've got it bad! When are you going to pop the question?"

"What!" The thought had barely occurred to Han that such a thing might someday happen, he hadn't even decided to yet. Well, he hadn't yet admitted to himself that he had decided to.

"Ah, she's a princess with a strange family, better do it right! You know how royalty can be!" The old man was still laughing at him and Han wasn't sure he was happy about it.

"Who did you hear all this from, anyway?" Han wanted to know.

"It's all over about the Princess of Alderaan and her smuggler boyfriend! Even the holovids have caught on. Then I heard from a bounty hunter that a certain smuggler had been caught by Jabba, bad luck there my friend sorry to hear about it. A few months later Jabba is dead at the hands of who else? The Princess of Alderaan, with the assistance of a Jedi no less!"

Han hadn't heard the information laid out in quite that manner before, but even putting it that way it still didn't directly connect him to Leia. "That is still quite a jump, my friend."

Borak laughed at him again. "You are mellowing with age, but you are still as impatient as a youth, _chumani_. I heard about the Princess and the Jedi and I started thinking about the last time I heard of a Jedi being on this sorry excuse for a planet. About four years ago a Jedi left here with a blond kid, whose description bears a strange resemblance to that of the Jedi who was with the Princess now that I think of it. Whose ship did they leave on? Yours! Add all that to the pot, throw in some spice and you get just enough information to make an old smuggler think you know all and fess up!"

Han was dumbfounded. The old man was right. Han had just taken the bit of information the salvager had thrown at him and confirmed everything. Han felt like hitting his head against a wall. He did sag his shoulders in defeat and say, "I should quit the business and take up moisture farming."

"Don't take it too hard my friend. I am twice your age and you trust me. Under those circumstances I would have to be as dumb as Jeboe'i not to catch you out once in a while." The old man cocked his head to the side. "Speaking of, I think your parts are ready."

As if on cue, the tiny alien slipped out the door and whispered in Barok's ear. Barok's face was shocked. Jeboe'i whimpered slightly and the old man reached out and patted his head. "Don't fret little one, it's fine. I'm just surprised is all."

The yard owner stood and held out a hand to Han. "Congratulations old friend, it looks like I owe you a drink!"

Han groaned. "You were my last hope! Which part don't you have?"

"The 7200 toggle switch board." The old man said wryly.

Han looked at him in confusion. "But I can get one of those anywhere!"

"Anywhere but here, my friend. I only sell used parts, when I run out, I run out. You'll have to buy one new somewhere." Barok shrugged his shoulders at the smuggler who was still staring at the man in disbelief. "What can I say, I stand by my claims, lets go get that drink."

Han started to follow him but stopped when he saw a familiar speeder pulling up. "Sorry, I'm going to have to get that drink later, my ride is here."

"Ah, would that be the ride with the princess in it? Any chance I could meet her? I'd like to shake the hand of the woman whose got Han Solo turning down drinks!"

/

When the speeder pulled up Han saw that Luke was driving and Leia was riding passenger. Beru was nowhere to be seen. "What's up, kid?"

Luke stood on the drivers seat and jumped out. Leia watched him and then did the same. "Aunt Beru met up with some old friends and they decided to go out to lunch. She told us to come check on you."

Han walked over and took Leia's hand. "Hey kid, Princess, I'd like the two of you to meet an old friend of mine!" He led them to where the junk dealer was once again seated.

"Barok, I'd like you to meet some friends of mine. The kid is Luke and this is Leia."

The old man turned sightless eyes on the Princess and reached for the hand she had unconsciously extended. He bowed and gently kissed her fingers. "_Ol'val_. _Cjaalysce'l_ milady and you are just as beautiful as they say."

Leia's royal upbringing and training took over. "You flatter me, _olys guerlle_."

"Any woman who can make Han Solo turn down a free drink deserves to be flattered."

The princess looked sharply at Solo. "I've never heard of such a thing either." She told the blind man while staring at Han. Luke just laughed behind his hand. He knew how long Han had had a crush on his sister and was greatly enjoying the show.

Han shrugged noncommittally. "I just said my ride was here. I don't want to have to walk back to the _Falcon_."

"Phaw! How far is the docking bay from here?" the junk dealer asked.

"Actually, I'm docked out at the kid's farm." Han said.

"Where's that?"

Luke spoke up, knowing he would give the most accurate placement. "It's the Lars Homestead, out by Anchorhead."

"Ahh, you're the Lars' boy. What's the name, Skywalker?" Luke nodded, caught himself, and said "Yes sir."

The old junk dealer tilted his head to the side and peered at Luke with sightless eyes. He sat back in his chair, still staring thoughtfully at Luke. The creature he called Jeboe'i slipped up onto the arm of his chair when he beckoned. Bakor started thoughtfully, "Check me here, Jeb, Didn't I know a kid called Skywalker about thirty-five years ago?" The little creature chattered at him in a language none of the party recognized, he nodded. "Yes, around that time. I remember hearing about a boy called... Ani, that's what they called him. He worked for a real junk dealer in Mos Espa. A real slimy character, that one. Had that boy fixin stuff up that shouldn't been able to be fixed then sold it for twice what it was worth. Don't suppose you know who I'm talking about? Not a real common name, Skywalker, even around here."

The friends were frozen in place. Han had no idea what to say so he wisely said nothing. Leia was trying not to appear too eager for the information since she wasn't ready to admit her relationship to the man. Luke spoke first, not sure what to say but not willing to let the old shopkeeper think he wasn't interested. "Anakin Skywalker was my father. I don't know much about him, he died before I was born." He winced even as the words came out, it was the standard answer he had heard and said all his life and he had grown to loathe those words. The phrase hurt even more, now that the knew the truth.

"Sorry to hear that son. I don't know much about him either. I met him once I think, he was just a lad then, of course. He was a little tow-headed boy, about seven or eight, the only one I ever met that could match Jeboe'i here in the mechanics department. The last I heard of him, he won a podrace and left the planet with some Jedi."

Luke looked at him suspiciously. "You must have a great memory if you can keep track of every little boy on the planet."

The old man laughed. "Son, I keep track of things that interest me. Just so happens, little Ani crossed several of my interests. I used to be a fan of podracing, I'm always looking for news about mechanical things, and I have always been a bit fascinated by Jedi. My memory would have to be very bad to not remember Ani's name!" The old man beckoned to Luke, who stepped forward sheepishly.

"Now, you remind me a lot of him except... you have a patience he didn't have. Little Ani was always about now, now, now." The old man took Luke's hand in his and traced the palm with callused fingers. He looked suddenly at the small blue alien, who was cooing softly, then back to Luke. "Have you met Jeboe'i, Luke Skywalker?"

Luke shook his head again and said, "No Sir."

"Why don't you do that while I make delivery arrangements with your friends here, then maybe I'll take you all out for a drink."

Luke nodded obediently, much to the surprise of Leia and Han, and followed the small creature into the yard. Barok turned to Han and Leia. "I think they will get along nicely. Now, Han my friend, when did you get mixed up in such unusual company?"

Han shrugged. "I decided to get respectable. I took a nice easy charter, overcharged them just like your supposed to then..."

Barok laughed. Leia was still worried a bit about Luke but she thought she would know if he were in trouble. She reached out and could feel his calm presence. She decided that he must be okay and she turned her attention back to Han and his friend.

"I won't be able to get those parts delivered until day after tomorrow. You can pick them up this evening if you need them sooner..."

"No, day after tomorrow is fine. It will only take a few hours to install them. I don't know how long were staying, but I have the feeling that it will be longer than that." Han had a look on his face that Leia couldn't quite see. What ever it was, it made Barok laugh again.

"You know better than to take open ended charters, my friend."

Han rubbed the back of his neck and gave a lopsided grin. "Well," He said sheepishly, "It's not exactly a charter. I'm kinda doing this..." He trailed off.

"What's that son, I didn't hear that last part."

"I said I'm kinda doing this at cost."

Barok laughed again. Han glared at him and Leia caught on. Barok already knew the things he was asking, he just wanted to make Han say them and Han liked the man to much to refuse the game. Leia risked joining in. "Han volunteered the _Falcon_ for this trip. I wanted to research some family history and Luke didn't want to come but when Han suggested he fly us..." Leia winked at the old man and somehow, she thought he saw it, because he winked back.

"Well I'll be! You did get respectable." The old man said, standing up. A moment later Luke came back out with a puzzled look on his face. The man spoke up before Luke had said a word. "Come on, I'll buy you all a drink."

They agreed and they moved the conversation to the cantina down the street. The bar was quiet and clean, impressive qualifications for this city, and Barok knew the owner. "Bar keep! A round for my friends here, on me." He called as they approached the bar. The man waved them to a table and headed over.

"What in the galaxies did you three do to make him buy not one, but three drinks?"

Barok, who was seated next to Han, slapped the smuggler on the back. "Han here discovered the one part I'm out of. The lady is the reason he turned down that drink, and the kid... Well lets just say I like the kid."

The Barkeeper/owner stared at Solo for a long moment before pulling out an extra chair and standing on it. "Hey listen up!" every head in the room turned toward him. "I want it to be known that the end of the universe as we know it is here. Believe it or not folks, _Han Solo_, captain of the _Millennium Falcon_, this day has turned down a free drink because of a woman."

The cantina erupted in cheers and catcalls. Han lowered his head to the table and stayed there, Leia blushed, and Luke was failing miserable at hiding his laughter. A humanoid in a mask came up to the bartender and held out a handful of coins. The cantina owner, still standing on the chair, took it without a word. He turned back to the table and said, "I'll tell you what, whatever he buys, I'll double it!"

"That's quite generous of you!" Barok said.

"Well," Said the barkeeper, climbing down off the chair, "Solo here just earned me a large sum of credits. That man over there, he said just this morning that he had never heard of any Correlian turning down a free drink, I said it happened now and then. He said that the universe would end first, I said wanna make a bet..." He hefted the coins.

Leia snickered, Luke had buried his head in his arms and was shaking with laughter and Han looked vaguely ill. Barok ordered a drink and encouraged the others to do the same before the Bar keep changed his mind. Han ordered his usual and Luke and Leia both chose drinks with no intoxicating effects. Neither wanted to upset Aunt Beru.

The group sat and chatted for over an hour, at which time Luke reminded them that they needed to go pick up Beru. Barok walked them back to their speeder.

"Han, old buddy, don't wait so long between shopping trips." The old man said.

"I wait as long as I can, I wouldn't be here now if the Princess wasn't picking up the tab."

Han opened the speeder door for Leia and said, "Since when do you speak Old Corellian anyway?"

"A princess must be able to return any formal greeting." Leia replied primly before ignoring the open door and jumping over the side of the speeder.

Luke took the opportunity to take Barok aside. "About Jeboe'i, did you know he's..."

Barok cut Luke off by patting the small of his back. More specifically, he touched the holster, Luke had hidden under his clothes, that held his lightsabre. "It'll be our little secret, Knight Skywalker." The old man said softly, giving Luke a push toward the speeder.

Luke got in a started the engine, pausing to take a long look at the retreating figure before he drove the speeder away. Leia leaned forward in her seat and asked, "What was that about, with Jeboe'i?"

"I'll tell you later."

/

/

They picked up Beru in the shopping district. She was standing next to a large pile of packages. Luke jumped out and started loading the parcels while Beru asked if they had fun today. The gave her the abbreviated version of events and she laughed just as hard as Barok had.

"Oh you poor man!" She said, patting Solo's arm. "I'll make it up to you though, tonight I'm making a dessert that you will just love. You'll see."

They all piled into the speeder and headed back to the farm. They arrived to find Chewie and Owen playing holochess in the common room.

Owen was obviously winning and Chewie roared as he lost yet another piece. "Oh, quit complaining, your the one who left him wide open for attack." Owen told the Wookie.

Luke leaned over and whispered something in Chewie's ear. Chewie gave a wicked looking grin and leaned back in his chair. He looked at the board and pushed two buttons. The pieces shifted and Owen lost three pieces all at once, evening the board slightly.

Han, who still had his arms full of Beru's packages continued into the kitchen, puzzled over the move. Once they were out of earshot, Luke leaned in toward Han and Leia and whispered. "I reprogrammed the board. Uncle Owen apparently still hasn't figure it out, but every time you sacrifice a piece, the other person loses three. It's nice when your playing against him because he refuses to sacrifice his pieces."

Han shook his head and went back to watch the rest of the match. Beru shoed Luke and Leia out when they tried to help her unpack her groceries saying that she was perfectly capable and that they were on vacation and didn't need to work so hard thank you.

"I wish she'd felt that way when I was still living at home!" Luke said, walking away.

"So, what now?" Leia asked.

Luke thought for a moment then snapped his fingers and called toward the common room, "Uncle Owen, I don't suppose the skyhopper is still in the garage?"

"Sure, don't know what else to do with the thing. That model was outdated when we bought it and no one who might have wanted to buy it can figure out that jury-rigged mess you made where the controls are supposed to be."

"Leia and I are going flying then, we'll be back in a few hours." He said, dragging Leia out as quickly as possible.

In the garage, Luke walked straight to the tarp covered form at the back. He peeled off the dirty brown cover to reveal a dirty grey T-16 Skyhopper. He climbed onto the wing and popped the cockpit, stepping back a bit as stale air wafted out.

"I thought those things were only supposed to seat one?" She said skeptically.

"They are, I modified it. You see, Biggs and I used to go racing and half the time one of the planes would crash or break down before we got back, so we modified our planes so neither of us would have to sit alone in the desert while the other went for help."

She looked at the tiny cockpit skeptically. "An where, precisely, did you put an extra seat?"

Luke was checking some dials on the inside and his voice was a bit muffled. "I moved back the power cells and took out the back up life support. Skyhoppers can't go into vacuum and there isn't any place on this planet you can't breath the air so the primary life support is redundant, that back up is just a wast of space."

Leia raised an eyebrow and stayed silent while he chattered on. He jumped off the small plane and headed for a workbench. He found a diagnostic tool that Leia could barely identify and he climbed back into the cockpit. "I made enough space to put a full size, forward facing seat in. It even has emergency eject. I've never had to use it, so I can't guarantee it works, but it was practically new so it probably does." He climbed back out of the pilot's seat and jumped down. "You ready to go?"

Leia smiled at him and climbed in. The spare seat was positively spacious compared to what she had been expecting. Luke followed her and passed her a helmet. "I really never saw the point of these, any crash where they would help is going to be bad enough we probably won't survive anyway but the radio is built in so we won't be able to hear each other if we don't wear them.

Leia put hers on and adjusted the strap. Luke climbed in and did the same, then he said, "Testing one, two, three, four."

"Five, six, seven, eight." Leia responded almost habitually.

"Good, everything seems to be working, strap in, we're gone!" Luke said into the radio. Leia strapped in just in time to feel the light plane lift off the floor of the garage. Luke expertly flew the plane over the other equipment and out the open door.

Leia, who already knew he was a skilled pilot, was impressed. Even though he'd had only centimeters clearance, the Skyhopper hadn't even touched another thing on the way out. She called into the radio, "Nice flying. Am I going to get so see this famous canyon all you flyboy's love to talk about?"

"You want to see Beggars Canyon? You got it, don't say I didn't warn you though..."

"I trust you Luke." Leia said. She regretted it a few minutes later. Speeding across large expanses of bare sand was almost relaxing, spinning and weaving through rock formations with solid stone walls only millimeters from the sides of the plane was something else entirely.

Luke had started out calmly enough. They entered the maze-like system of caverns and passageways at a nice cruising speed. As the canyon walls started closing in, however, Luke pushed the light plane to higher and higher speeds. The brightly colored walls that Leia had found so captivating were now speeding by so fast she could no longer identify the colors, let alone the patterns.

The princess leaned forward as far as her restraints would allow and searched for the speedometer on Luke's heads-up display. She found it after a moment and was shocked that the numbers, though unbelievably high, weren't changing. Then she realized that the numbers weren't changing with their fluxuating speeds because they were going faster than the device was capable of measuring. She sat back and tugged at her harness in an attempt to tighten it.

Luke must have sensed her unease because he said into the radio, "You all right back there?"

Her voice quivered slightly when she said, "No. Luke, exactly how fast are we going?"

His reply did not set her mind at ease. "I don't know, The speedometer doesn't go this fast. That's okay, I think it's broken anyway."

"I would really like it if _we_ didn't go this fast, please."

The radio crackled as he laughed. "I thought you trusted me? Hold on, we're going to thread the needle then I'll slow down."

Leia didn't like the sound of that, but she did trust him so she sat quietly and tried not to hold on to the seat too tightly. The cavern twisted and turned and Leia watched the upcoming obstacles. She was fine until they came up on a dead end. Well, not quite a dead end, there was a tiny opening in the far wall. She wasn't worried until she realized Luke intended to go through that opening. She almost cried out, then she realized she really did trust him and that he wouldn't risk hurting her.

When this hit her, she relaxed completely. _Of course he knows what he's doing, what in the galaxy am I thinking?_ Leia sat back in her seat and enjoyed the rest of the trip. Luke felt her relax and pushed the speed a bit more, wanting to show off a bit. They slipped through the opening, which was more than adequate space for such a small plane, and sped around the outside of the rock formation.

Luke slowed the plane and landed it on the edge of one of the cliffs. He popped the canopy and climbed out, offering a hand to Leia once he was standing. He dropped his helmet on the wing F.O. the plane and walked across the top of the cliff for a few meters. HE turned and watched Leia climb down from the same wing.

She walked to the edge F.O. the cliff and looked down. They were several hundred meeters up. Turning back she could see Luke staring at her. "What?"

"It just occurred to me I didn't know if you were afraid of heights."

"I'm not."

"I can see that. Come on, I have something I want to show you." He walked swiftly toward a space near the center of the plateau. He paused and turned to her. "It's right here."

She stepped up next to him and looked down to where he was pointing She saw a narrow hole in the ground. "What's in there?"

"I'll show you." He took her hands and gently lowered her into the space. It was a tight fit, even for her small frame, but she squeezed through. Her feet were still dangling in the open air when he let go. She at first thought she must be falling a very long way, then realized he was using the Force to lower her slowly.

When her feet touched the ground he called to her, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's kinda dark down here though."

He started to climb down himself and she lost even the meager light from the hole in the ceiling. In a moment the light returned and she heard her brother land hard on the stone. "We should have brought glowrods."

Luke grinned at her and pulled one from his pocket. He turned it on and pointed it around in the darkness. She could see it illuminate a worn path that had been cleared of stones. Luke began following this path. "Come on, there isn't much to trip on, but be careful not to hit your head."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see." He said, enigmatically. The path they were following quickly turned into a tunnel. A tunnel with a very low ceiling. Luke stopped when he heard his sister cry out for the third time. He took her hand and raised it over her head. She felt her fingers touch the cool stone. "Trail your fingertips along the stone just in front of your face, then you'll know when the ceiling is lower."

She did as he said and was pleased that it worked. They walked for a few minutes more and Leia almost asked 'how long' when she abruptly lost contact with the stone above her head and promptly walked into Luke's back. "Wait here." He told her. "I'll be right back."

She watched his light bob around as he walked away from her. She saw it briefly illuminate several items that she couldn't immediately identify. He lingered for a moment over what appeared to be a stack of power cells. He pushed a few buttons and, when nothing happened, he kicked the stack. Leia was momentarily blinded by the lights, they came on so suddenly. She looked around when her vision cleared and said, "Wow!"

The cavern was huge. The bell shaped room was over two hundred meters high at it's arch. The space was easily large enough to land the _Falcon_ in and someone had installed sufficient lights to illuminate the entire space. The equipment she had seen was indeed a stack of power cells. There was also a small generator and a control panel, presumably for the lights. Near the center of the room, Leia spotted some furniture and a largish cooling unit.

"What is this place?" She asked.

"Biggs and Fixer and I found it. The plateau is actually an extinct volcano, this room used to be filled with molten rock. We used to camp out in here. The only way to reach it is by air. The walls of the plateau are too steep to climb. We set up solar panels on the top but we kept them covered with dirt when we weren't using them so no one flying by would find them. I'm kinda surprised that the power cells are still good, Fixer must still come out here occasionally."

Luke wandered over to where the furniture was arranged and looked around. "Some is still coming out here, look, these holomags are recent and I know that chair wasn't here before."

Leia looked over the assorted stuff and asked, "How did you get all this stuff down here anyway?"

He chuckled, "Very carefully. We had to take some of the larger stuff apart to make it fit." Luke plopped down in one of the larger chairs, Leia followed suit.

Sensing that now was a good time, Leia turned to her brother and asked, "What was that about this morning, with Jeboe'i?"

Luke's face took on a far away look for a moment. "The creature is force sensitive, I think Barok is too."

"What do you mean?"

"Jeboe'i could tell I was a Jedi. When Barok started talking to me specifically, the creature noticed me too and started examining me through the force. He must have liked something about me, because he started telling Barok, telepathically, that I was 'the good kind' what ever that means. When we were leaving, I started to ask Barok if he knew and he stopped me from saying it. Then he called me Knight Skywalker and showed he knew it by pointing out my lightsabre."

"You brought that with you? I thought you left it behind, I didn't see it..."

"You weren't supposed to. I had it in a hidden holster. Mos Eisley is not a nice place and I didn't want to go weaponless, but it would have disturbed Aunt Beru and it definitely would have called attention to us."

Leia thought about this for a moment. "What does all that mean to us?"

Luke shrugged. "Probably nothing. I just thought it was interesting. You know a lot of this stuff is just as new to me as it is to you. Training in a swamp for a couple of months doesn't make a person an expert you know."

Her smile was encouraging. "I know. I forget sometimes, but I know." She paused a moment. "Luke? Do you think you could teach me some of this? I understand if you don't feel comfortable teaching anyone yet but..."

"Are you sure you want to. It won't be easy." He warned.

"I've been thinking about it for a while now. I know it won't be easy, and I can't guarantee that I will be good at it, but I feel I need to learn it. It just seems important somehow."

"I understand. Believe me, I know exactly what you mean." He stood up and offered her his hand. "Are you ready for your first lesson?"

"What, now?"

"Now. Come on." He picked up the glowrod and turned out the lights. The went back up the winding tunnel. Once at the top, he levitated her to the opening and she was able to climb out easily. He led her to the plane and handed her a helmet.

"In you go!" He said cheerfully. She looked at him suspiciously and started to climb into the passenger seat. "No you don't, your flying home." He told her.

"But I don't know how to fly one of these."

"You'll learn, it's easy."

"I have a bad feeling about this."

/

/

/

Sorry to do that to y'all, but chapter 5 is coming, as soon as I get it written, that is. Fred is giving me some pointers, but the nice people who sign my paychecks are having me work ten hour shifts this weekend so I don't have much time...

Soon, I promise.

__


	5. Coming Home

Hi there!

The nice people who sign my paychecks let me off way early on saturday so I had some extra time, that means you get an update on monday instead of, well... alot later than that!

To all my fabulous reviewers...

**Amber: **Glad to hear from you! I'm also glad to hear you are enjoying this.

**Namonaki Pharoh:** Wow, I got applause! Yeah, Barok and Jeboe'i just kind of showed up so Fred said to give them parts. Truth is, Barok is Force-sensitive too. (oops, probably shouldn't have said that!) Fred say's they won't be playing a major part in this story so I will be posting something more about them later. The boy's hideout is based on a place called Devil's Well in southcentral Missouri, USA. That cavern is full of water and can't be accesed the same way, but I thought I would give credit where credit is due. (for inspiration)

**Princess Kinky:** More Luke and Leia to come. I've always thought authors kinda ignored the siblings thing too. I'm going to have to read some of your stories when Fred gives me time off. My siblings are a very important part of my life so I can't imagine why no one else bothers to write that.

**MistiWhitesun:** Are you kidding? I love chatty people. One of my biggest problems has been keeping these replys short so the A/N doesn't get longer than the chapter!

Thanks for the tips, I can't believe I slipped up on the contractions! I've been slipping up alot though with this story. I usually take great pride in my grammatical skills, but I haven't been paying too much attention to it lately. On the foreign language, I actually though it was better if you didn't know what it meant, but I've seen other people get tons of requests for translation and I wanted to throw the comment in.

Barok has a life story that I won't go into in detail here, I'm currently working on it when I'm not working on this one. Yes it was supposed to be semi-obvious that they were both force sensitive. The reason Barok and Jeboe'i didn't notice Leia is because she isn't trained at all yet. Remember, even Darth Vader didn't notice her. (although, Barok wouldn't say anything if she didn't, did you notice that he didn't even mention Luke's being force sensitive where his friends could hear?)

I do think in complex sentences. I also think in simple sentences and song lyrics and movie quotes. I probably should have mentioned up front that I am a little weird. I really can't tell you on the writing styles. I tend to write fluff. I can't keep a plot going to save my life. I have noticed that if I'm not careful, all my stories start to sound the same. That's why three stories is a big deal, they are set in different eras and I don't want them to slide together.

Wow, and you thought you were chatty! I probably should have e-mailed this to you, but I don't have your e-mail. If you decide you want to chat (this is an open invitation to everyone) my E-mail is pokey1984yahoo.com I check it about every other day, sometimes more often.

**A/N:** This chapter changes very abruptly, sorry about that but Fred said to do it that way. Chapter six is only partially written. It will be a few days before it is even close to ready to post. In the mean time, I am so Sorry. (you'll understand about the apology later)

/

/

**"Isn't Anyone Going to Say Anything?"**

Chapter 5 -Wow this is getting to be a really long one shot, isn't it?

/

The flying lesson started out just fine. Leia settled in the pilots seat fairly confident that she could learn this, after all, she already knew how to fly, she just wasn't familiar with this particular type of plane. Luke stood on the wing and showed her how the controls worked. It was really fairly simple since half the gauges weren't connected to anything and it only had the most basic of controls. Leia said as much.

"Your problem isn't that there is a lot to learn, your problem is that there aren't any sensors for you to look at. Your first lesson is going to be to trust your instincts."

"Okay, I have to trust my instincts. I've done that before."

He smirked at her. "Then it shouldn't be a problem" He climbed in behind her and strapped in. "When ever you're ready, take off."

Leia checked her display and started the engines. Gently, she touched the controls, getting a feel for how the plane would handle before she was even in the air. She hit the repulsor lifts and pushed the controls forward. "Hey, this isn't too bad."

"Alright, take us home."

"Which way?"

Luke didn't say anything. Leia repeated the question, "Luke, which way do I go?" She began drifting in circles, waiting for an answer. She didn't get one. She turned in her seat as far as the straps would allow and saw a smiling Luke watching her.

"This is part of the lesson isn't it?"

He nodded.

"Your not going to say anything else are you?"

He shook his head.

"Okay, I can handle this. We came west to get here, so I'll start by going east, that's fairly easy." She reached for the controls, then realized she didn't know which direction was which. The suns were both high in the sky and she wasn't familiar enough with the planet to use them to determine the directions. She pushed several buttons before she realized that the little plane didn't even have a compass. She really had _no_ instruments.

She started to ask Luke, then realized he already knew the problem and wasn't going to say anything. The plane was still circling and she was starting to get dizzy. Finally, she just closed her eyes and tried to ignore everything except her memory of the path they had flown in. _Okay, just before we landed I saw a tall rock that looked like part of the palace back on Alderaan._ She looked around and spotted the rock formation. _Just before that was a very smooth, round rock that I thought was artificial at first."_ She spotted it much farther away and started toward it by way of the palace-shaped rock.

She was flying slowly because she was still trying to remember the path they had taken. _Okay, just before that was the needle, I hope I can make it through that, I don't think this plane can make it over the top._ She flew on and spotted the cliff they had come out of. "Luke, can this plane go over that or is it too high? She asked, knowing it wouldn't hurt to ask.

He did answer, but it wasn't helpful, "What do you feel?"

"Frustrated."

He laughed. "That's because you are still thinking, you're supposed to be _feeling_."

"I'll try."

He laughed at her again. "Do or do not, there is no try!" He almost sing-songed from behind her.

"That isn't helpful."

"Be glad you aren't standing waist deep in a swamp the first time you heard it!"

"Swamp?"

"Master Yoda's obstacle course. It is helpful, you just don't understand it yet."

Leia sighed and wondered what she had gotten herself into. "So how do I _feel_ the way your talking about?"

"How did you know what to say to Barok this morning?"

"Like I told Han, I was trained to be able to respond to a formal greeting in any language." She was still nervous about going through the hole in the cliff so when she reached it she swung the plane in a large arc the other direction.

"That was a formal greeting for him, but I know they don't teach common Corellian in Princess school. How did you know what to say? How did you know is would be better if you didn't just respond in basic?"

"I don't know." she said miserably.

"That is it exactly. You didn't know, so you trusted your feeling that you should use his language. I've been watching when you deal with other people. Part of what makes you so good at what you do is the way you sense what would make them the most comfortable, then you do it."

"So I just pretend the cliff is asking me to dance?" She said sarcastically.

"Do whatever you do in places where you might get asked to dance."

Great, why does the idea of dancing with a cliff strike me as a bad sign? She pulled the plane around and headed straight for the cliff. The hole was there, she could see it, but she couldn't feel it. She approached it slowly, then, on impulse, swung around again. She was just in time. Just as she swung away from the opening, another craft came speeding out.

"Good, I was wondering if you would sense that coming."

Leia was still recovering from the near miss and almost blew up at him. When she spoke, it was through gritted teeth. "If you knew he was coming, why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I trust you. Besides, that was a podracer doing a trial run. He saw us miles ago and knew we were coming. There's no way one of those guys would ever hit anything going as slow as this plane's top speed."

Okay, take a deep breath, Leia, it's just a plane, it's just a little hole in the wall, you can do it. She swung around for another pass. As the plane approached the cliff, the princess pushed the accelerator. The speedometer stopped changing and she still accelerated. At the last moment before she reached the gap in the cliff, she pulled up on the controls and the plane rose, almost parallel to the cliff face. At the speed she was going, the plane reached the top in no time and she leveled off.

"Good, how did you know the plane would make it to the top?"

"I didn't. It just occurred to me, at the last moment, that I would feel really silly if I clipped one of the wings off and that I would probably be better off to just go over. You told me to trust my feelings, so I went over." Leia was breathing hard. She had been terrified the entire time that the plane wouldn't handle the altitude and it would stall halfway up.

"You did good. Now go down into the canyon."

"What! Why?"

"You did good, but you need more practice."

Sighing in frustration and relief, the princess dropped the plane into the canyon. She slowed down and Luke didn't say anything so she continued at a much more reasonable speed than he had used. The twists and turns weren't too bad and she was quickly settling into a rhythm. Suddenly it occurred to her that she was going too slow. Still not sure why, she accelerated. As she rounded the next bend she heard a loud crack and spotted some stones crumble down the far wall. She sped up more and slipped past a group of Tusken Raiders who had intended to use her for target practice.

"Good." Luke said over the radio, she could hear his smile. "How many of them were there?"

"Five, why?"

"How were they positioned?"

"There were three men taking shots at us, one woman setting up a recharge station for the rifles, and there was another one on top of the cliff tethering the banthas." She was answering him on autopilot because her attention was focused on the canyon ahead of her.

"I'm impressed, I didn't think you could see through stone."

"What do you mean see through stone? They were right there in plain sight."

Luke laughed at her again. "Leia, you couldn't have possibly seen the top of the cliff from that point in the canyon. You certainly wouldn't have been able to _see_ the raider woman and the banthas. Think about it."

She did and he was right. She couldn't have possibly see the fifth raider, but she'd known the woman was there. There wasn't time to ponder it though. The canyon was getting more difficult to navigate. She sped up more and expertly hopped the plane over a series of low bridges, using the rock formations to boost off of with her repulsors. Next there was a sharp turn, tighter than ninety degrees. Leia pulled on the control and showed the planes underbelly to the cliff face. The repulsors, instead of pushing her up off the ground, pushed her away from the cliff that she would have otherwise collided with at the speed she was going.

One more turn and she was free of the canyon. She soared over the open desert with a grin on her face. "I did it!" She cheered into the headset. "I flew Beggars Canyon!"

"You did, and you did a great job too!" Luke called from the passenger seat.

"Can I do it again?"

He laughed while he said, "Tomorrow, if we go again today we'll be late to supper."

"Do you want to put the plane in the garage, or do you want me to do it?"

"Actually, you can land outside. If we're going out again tomorrow there's no sense putting it back. Just make sure you land inside the fence, we call 'em raiders for a reason."

"Alright."

When they approached the house, Leia spotted Han standing outside. She couldn't resist circling him once and waving enthusiastically. He waved back and she landed the plane. She popped the canopy and jumped on the seat and then out on to the wing like a pro. Leia dropped her helmet on the seat and ran to meet Han, who was walking towards them.

"Guess what?" She called, already halfway there. "I flew Beggars Canyon! Not the whole thing, but I flew most of it!"

Han looked to Luke for confirmation. The Jedi nodded and Han was impressed. "That's great sweetheart. I've flown that, it ain't easy! This your first time in a light plane?"

"Yeah, but that was the easy part."

"It's still something to fly that thing while your still getting used to new instruments." Han told her. He knew.

"Oh that wasn't a problem, none of them work anyway."

Leia spoke so nonchalantly that it took Han several moments to register exactly what she'd said. When it did finally register Han wasn't just shocked, he was angry. He turned to Luke, "You let her fly that thing _blind_! Are you insane? You both could have been killed!"

Leia wasn't about to let him yell at Luke, she'd had fun and they were safe, there was nothing to be angry about. "Han, relax. It's a Jedi thing. I had to do it."

"A Jedi thing?"

"Luke was teaching me to trust my instincts. He was watching out for me the whole time." Leia reached for his face and made him look at her. "You know Luke wouldn't do anything to put me in danger. He's my brother. What's gotten into you?"

"I just worry about you." Han said gently, realizing he'd gotten carried away. That conversation with Barok this morning was really making him a wreck.

"Well don't worry so much, I'm alright."

"Yes you are. Is this something that is going to come up a lot? This Jedi stuff, I mean?"

"Yes."

Luke cleared his throat and they both looked at him. "If the two of you are good, perhaps we should get in out of the suns?" He pointed one finger upward where both suns were clearly visible, if rapidly sinking toward the horizon.

* * *

That evening, after dinner, Leia used the Lars' holoterminal to check her messages. She'd been out of touch for days now and she wondered how the rest of the universe was getting along. 

She found a message from Mon Mothma at the top of the list. She opened it, worried that something had come up and she was needed. Inside was a cheerful message telling her everything was fine, not to worry; the universe would get along fine with out her for a few days and asking if she was enjoying her vacation. She felt a familiar pang of guilt over not telling her friends the true reason for her leave of absence, though everyone had agreed that she needed a vacation desperately. The princess just wasn't ready to share this with the galaxy yet.

Guilt rolling over her, Leia typed off a message telling the Alliance leader that, yes she was having a marvelous time. She was on Tatooine for now, visiting some long lost relatives and she would write again when she decided on a date to leave. She signed the message simply, Leia. With the issues she was dealing with right now, she really wasn't sure what surname she wanted to claim and any of the titles she had acquired made her feel like a charlatan. She read over the message, decided it was good enough, and sent it.

She read two more similar messages, one from Admiral Ackbar, and one from General Madine, and she sent them similar replies, leaving out her current location. If they needed to know, they would ask Mon Mothma, who would tell them. She took a few moments to cringe when she realized most of the people she knew signed their letters with some kind of military rank.

Next was a message from her friend Winter, which was much more heartfelt and personal. Leia wanted to cry as she sent back the same drivel she had sent to her other friends. If anyone deserved to know the truth, it was Winter. The Alderaanian woman had been Leia's best friend and confidant for as long as either of them could remember. _You can't tell her anything in a letter, it just isn't right. If she deserves to know the truth, she deserves to hear it in person._ Leia told herself. She debated for a while and decided that a vacation was not the time to make serious decisions and put it off once more.

Nearly finished, Leia declined some invitations to social events, accepted two that were set for a few weeks from now, and came to the end of the list. She read the last invitation, to a ball in honor of the survivors from Alderaan. She read the date in horror, it was set for two weeks from now, on the anniversary of her home planet's destruction. Closing her eyes, she took several deep breaths. She hadn't realized that the anniversary was that close. With the battle of Endor and the things she had learned there, finding Luke, the war ending, she had completely forgotten.

"What's wrong?"

The voice made her jump. She had been concentrating so hard on herself, she hadn't notice Han entering the room. "It's nothing. I just got an invitation to a ball in honor the all the surviving Alderaani citizens."

"And you hadn't noticed the date?" He'd thought it must be something like that. She nodded in confirmation.

"It just hit me suddenly, I'm okay now."

"No, your not. You will be though, we all will." He said kindly, sitting on the floor next to her chair. "So, are you planning on going to this 'ball' of theirs?"

She sighed, "I suppose I should. As the only surviving member of the Royal family..." She stopped when Han snorted. "What?"

"What about Leia Organa, citizen of Alderaan? Does she want to go?"

Leia opened her mouth to respond, and closed it again. _What do I want?_ She thought to herself. Han waited patiently for her to respond. She swallowed the lump in her throat, took a deep breath, and said, "No, I don't."

"Then don't go." He told her simply.

"But Han, people are counting on me.."

"For what?"

"The Aldreaani people need a leader to look to and the rebellion..."

Han cut her off again. _Now why doesn't that bother me?_ she thought as he said, "Alderaan is gone, sweetheart, and the rebellion is over. In case you missed the memo, we won. Now you get to decide what Leia wants instead of what everyone else needs." He reached up and touched her arm. "What do you want to do, Leia? Who do you want to be?"

Trembling, she closed her eyes and just breathed. Though true, Han's comments were not what she wanted to hear. For the first time in her life, she really had no responsibilities, not in the long run anyway. The feeling was disconcerting and a bit frightening. For as long as she could remember, she had always had a goal, a purpose, a responsibility to build her life around. Now that was gone and she was truly free to make any decision she wanted. She was terrified.

She barely recognized the trembling voice that answered, "I don't know."

Great, now you've done it! Han thought. _You upset her, great way to build a relationship!_ "I'm sorry, I didn't mean.."

She shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks. "It's not you."

He reached for her and she slid out of the chair and into his arms. "Then what is it? Do you want to talk about it?"

She sobbed into his shirt, holding on to him for dear life. "I just feel so lost." She whispered, her voice barely audible. Confused, but getting used to the state, Han held her and let her cry. He didn't know if he understood, but he was sure going to try and help her anyway he could. As she calmed slightly, he said, "Your on the Lars' farm, just outside of Anchorhead, on Tatooine, in the Acordian sector, on the Outer Rim of the galaxy."

The response he got was somewhere in between a sob and a giggle. He continued. "Nearby are the planets of Hoth, Dagobah, and Bespin. Coruscant is about six day's travel from here, though why anyone would want to go there is beyond me..."

"Han?"

"Yes?" He said innocently, offering her a lopsided grin.

"Shut up!"

"Yes, your highnessness."

Having stopped crying, Han expected her to get up and pretend nothing was wrong, like she usually did. Instead, she nestled closer to him. "What did I do to deserve you?"

Han looked at the top of her head, which was as close as he could get to looking her in the eye, in shock. His answer surprised them both. "Did you ever stop to think that it was me who did something to deserve you?"

She giggled again. _Stang, I would do anything to hear that sound._ Han thought.

"You're a good person, you don't deserve to be stuck with me." She said miserably.

"Who, me? I'm not a good person, I'm a smuggler and a scoundrel. You're a princess and a senator and a war hero and the most beautiful, intelligent, kind person I have ever met. The only thing I can't figure out is why you're hanging around with me." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Because I'm in love with you."

"I love you too, sweetheart."

She looked up at him, tear tracks making her face blotchy. Han thought she had never been more beautiful when she asked, "What am I going to do?"

"What do we always do?"

"Make it up as we go?" She said with a shy smile, remembering all the times the smuggler had told her he was 'making is up as I go along.'

He squeezed her gently and gave her another grin. "Just like always. You going to that ball?" He knew what her answer would be, but had to ask anyway.

"Yes." That was the answer he expected, the next part was new. "You are too."

When he scowled, she grinned. "I don't go anyplace I have to wear a shirt with a collar."

"Wear anything you want. Bring Chewie and Lando, we'll make a party out of it. I know these people, they need a few smugglers around to liven things up."

"You're not serious?"

She thought about it for a moment and grinned, "I am serious. Call everyone you know and invite them, we'll have a good time."

He laid a hand on her forehead and looked closely into her eyes. "You feeling alright?" He was only half kidding. She had a strange look in her eyes, like someone on a bad spice trip.

"I've never been better. You're right, who cares what these people think of me, I'm sick of all of it. My planet is gone, the people who destroyed it are gone. Except for you and Luke and Winter, all my family and friends sign their letters to me with a military rank, why should I care what they think. I'm going to enjoy my life."

Han sniffed her breath. "You don't smell like you've been drinking." _And you don't take drugs._ he added silently.

"Knock it off, I'm not sick and I'm not drunk. I think I might be having a nervous breakdown, but I'm not sure I care." She told him, almost flippantly.

"I think you need some sleep." He said, worried about her sudden change of mood. He stood and when she didn't follow suit, he picked her up and put her in the chair. She giggled again and this time the sound chilled him slightly.

"What, you aren't going to carry me to bed?" She giggled like a school girl and pouted her lips.

Han looked at her appraisingly and decided something was definitely wrong. "Don't tempt me sweetheart." He said, turning around and walking away. At the door, he turned back. "Don't move, I'll be right back, understand?"

She giggled again and said demurely, "I'll be waiting."

The smuggler walked down the hall as fast as he could with out running. He wasn't sure what to do, so he was going to get a second opinion. "Luke!" He called down the hall. "Hey, Luke, where are you kid?"

The Jedi poked his head out of his room. "What is it Han?"

"It's Leia, I think something is wrong with her, she's acting kinda strange."

Luke didn't hesitate, in moments he and Han were in the tiny office where Han had left the princess. She wasn't there anymore.

Han was ready to panic. "Where did she go, she was right here!"

"Relax she couldn't have gone far." Luke took off down the hall, opening every door along the way, Han did the same thing going the other direction. It didn't take long to find her, the house wasn't that big.

Luke was the one who found her. She was hiding in the closet, curled up in a ball under the lowest shelf. He hair had come loose from it's braids and was hanging in her face which was contorted in fear. She was whimpering slightly and whispering something just below audible level.

"Leia, what is it, what's wrong?" He had been trying to pick her up in the Force since Han had told him there was trouble, but all he got was confusion. Even now, within sight of her, all he could sense was confusion and a vague terror. Luke tried to focus on her, but she kept slipping away, like she was purposely trying to hide from him.

Her whispering became louder as she recognized him. "Don't let him get me Luke, please don't let him get me. I'm scared Luke, please don't let him hurt me."

"It's okay, no one wants to hurt you. Everything is okay now, come on out."

She shook her head furiously. "If I come out he'll find me. Don't let him hurt me anymore. Please don't let him get me."

Her voice had risen above a whisper, but just barely. Luke was truly frightened now. He'd never seen his sister like this before. He couldn't imagine what could terrify her so much, certainly there was nothing like that on this planet, let alone this farm. He tried to sound encouraging despite his fears. "It's okay, he's gone. I made him go away, he can't hurt you anymore. You can come out now."

Tears and sweat plastered her hair across her face. "You promise?"

"I promise." He said solemnly. She grasped the hand he extended and pulled herself out from under the shelf. She was having trouble standing, however and Luke found himself supporting her. He sensed her fear receding, but the aura of confusion and wrongness was still there.

"Han, go get Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen, they're in the kitchen. Tell them to get the speeder ready, we have to take Leia to a medicenter."

Han was way ahead of him. "The best medicenter in this sector is on a space station about four hours from here. I can get her there in three in the _Falcon_. It'll be at least two hours to Mos Eisley by speeder and they won't recognize her so she'll have to wait in line..."

Luke nodded sharply. "Tell Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen, I'll take her to the _Falcon_ and get her strapped in. Don't take too long."

"You don't have to tell me kid." Han took off down the hall to the kitchen. He commed Chewie on the way and told him to start the engines. Hearing the strain in his friends voice, he asked why.

"I'll tell you when I get there, just get her ready to take off. Solo out." He switched off the comm as he entered the kitchen. "We're taking Leia to a medicenter, something is wrong with her and we don't know what, are you coming?"

Beru and Owen stood up instantly. "Of course, what's wrong?" Beru asked, following Han, who hadn't stopped moving to talk to them and was already at the door.

"We don't know, she started acting strange about half an hour ago and now she is hallucinating. Luke is taking her to the _Falcon_ right now."

"The _Falcon_?"

Han didn't turn to find out who spoke the question and he was in too much of a hurry to care. "She's a princess and a hero, she'll get better care some place they'll recognize her and that ain't here."

They reached the ship to find the ramp was already down and the engines were running. "Get strapped in, I'll help Chewie clear it with traffic control." With that, Han ran to the cockpit, leaving Owen and Beru to find Luke and Leia on their own.

They found Luke stooping over a bunk in one of the cabins. Leia was lying on the bunk, apparently unable to sit up on her own. She was smiling faintly and jabbering at Luke who looked absolutely terrified. Beru sat on the edge of the bed and fumbled with the pouch on the wall that held the acceleration straps for the bed. She managed to fasten them, praising every deity she could think of that no one had ever changed the design and she could operate them. Then she pulled Luke to the floor so he wouldn't have so far to fall if the ship jolted suddenly.

Luke allowed it but wouldn't go any further than his knees. He held on to Leia's hand and watched her face as she told him about how pretty the flowers were at the park and how her mother, her real mother, had taught her to make a crown out of them.

Beru watched them both, her mothering instinct kicking in. She watched her boy's face shape itself into a mask of fear and worry and wrapped her arms around him, whispering encouragement in his ear as she felt the ship accelerate. A few moments later, Han came back and she realized just how crowded the room was getting. She stood and pulled Luke up, making him let go of his sister for a moment. Leia cried out when he let go and he returned to the bed.

"How is she?" Han asked, slipping in between Beru and Luke. Owen had stepped out into the corridor and was listening from the doorway.

Reduced to whispers, Luke said, "I can't find her. She's there, but she keeps slipping away. She's confused, it's like she's slipping back and forth in time. One minute, she feels fine, then she acts like a very small child. She won't let me leave either." He hadn't taken his eyes off of her the entire time. She started whimpering again and he bent to comfort her.

"We'll get her to the medicenter in no time, don't worry, she'll be okay." Han wasn't sure if he was trying to convince himself or Luke.

"That's not all Han. She keeps reaching out to me with the force. She thinks someone is chasing her, trying to hurt her. She's scared."

Han didn't know what to say, there wasn't anything else he could do for her right now. "We'll be docking at the station in two and a half hours. I already told them we were coming so we'll have priority status when we get there. Just hold on, she'll be okay." The smuggler didn't say anymore, he just stood there and watched the two of them for a moment then left the tiny cabin and headed for the cockpit.

"Just two and a half more hours," He said to himself. "Just hang on for two and a half more hours."


	6. Coming Home

**Hi again!**

Wow, Fred say's this is it. The end came kinda suddenly, but all the issues are resolved so the most you might get would be a couple of missing moments. I want you all to know, I've really enjoyed this story. To those of you who enjoyed it enough to tell me...

**SeanWH:** I'm glad you've been taking time out to read this. Sorry about the Cliffie, but Fre told me to. This is the end, so no more cliffhangers, I promise.

**MistiWhitesun:** I have really enjoyed chatting with you here, I hope you get your e-mail fixed soon! I have always had the opposite problem, my teachers always said I was too wordy. I spen one year on the school newspaper in high school but I wasn't allowed to stay. I had a problem with deadlines and my articles were always way too long!

I have started on "I no longer have a name" It is a bit confusing at first, but that usually makes the best kind of story. I promise to review and tell you what I think.

I am apparently not getting rid of Fred, he is now coaching me on 'Barok's Story' (that is the working title) I have no Idea what is going to happen there, I only have about two thousand words written so far.

Anyway, thanks for your help and all your wonderful reviews. You actually weren't far off in your suggestion about her illness being related to Leia's first use of the Force. We must think alike. Anyway, I hope you like this, it's really the end this time.

**A/N:** Okay folks, this is the end. Fred told me to stop here and he's the boss. This chapter is kinda short and it moves pretty fast, just a warning.

I would really appreciate it if you would tell me your final thoughts. Even if you haven't reviewed this story before, let me know what you liked, what you didn't like, what parts you thought I should have done more with and what parts you thought I should have left out. I will respond by E-mail to anyone who gives me theirs, everyone else will just have to assume I got your review.

Fred has currently got me working on 'Barok's Story'. I don't know when it might be posted but it is the story of the Force sensitive junk-yard owner seen in Chapter 4 of this story. Keep watching for it.

Thank's for putting up with me. Now, here's...

/

/

**"Isn't Anyone Going to Say Anything?"**

**Chapter 6**

When Han finally called over the intercom that they were approaching the station, Beru couldn't have been more relieved. For the last two hours she had watched her nephew, the boy she'd raised his entire life, fall to pieces as he watched his sister slowly deteriorate. The boy, all grown up now, fumbled with the straps on the bed; picked up the slender woman and carried her, like a baby, to the boarding ramp. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on, but never stopped chattering at him.

Three doctors were waiting at the bottom of the ramp with a hover bed. One was a young human woman, one a mon Calmari, and the third was an aging human male. None bothered with introductions. Luke laid the senator down and tried to untangle himself from her arms. When he finally released all contact with her, she cried out and tried to stand up, only succeeding in nearly dumping herself on the floor. Luke took her hand again and she calmed instantly. He walked beside the bed as the doctors pushed it down the hallway to an examining room.

He was stopped at the doorway. "You can't come in here, sir. Only family are allowed past this point."

Luke started to protest that he was family and stopped himself just in time. "I'm the closest thing she has. All her family is dead." He said desperately.

The elderly doctor who had helped them bring her in stood behind the nurse who was still blocking the doorway. He said kindly, "I understand, however, this is policy. We can't have the liability. I promise, as soon as we know something, I'll tell you..."

Owen heard the princess, his niece, screaming in the background for Luke to help her and remembered an ancient policy, one he thought the doctor might just be old enough to remember. The man seemed to want to help, if his hands were truly tied, this would give him a way out. Owen debated for a few moments while Luke tried to come up with an argument. Finally, the old farmer made a decision. "He's a Jedi, you have to let him in."

The doctor looked at Owen in surprise. He looked to the other members of the group, who all nodded in confirmation. He smiled, "Well, in that case..." He moved the young nurse from the doorway bodily and waved the Jedi inside. The princess quieted as soon as he was near.

The old doctor disappeared inside the room and closed the door behind himself, leaving the rest of the group standing in the hallway. The young nurse said, "There is a waiting room right through here, you will be notified if anything changes."

In the waiting room, Han turned to Owen in surprise. "Why did the doctor let the kid in?"

Owen looked at him grimly. "You're too young to remember the Republic, son. Thank the stars that doctor isn't. Years ago, when the Jedi protected the galaxy, all the medicenters and hospitals made a policy that any Jedi was to be treated equal to a doctor."

"Why?"

Owen snorted at him. "You really are young, aren't you? The Jedi used to be great healers. That was before the war, of course. It was a gamble, Palpatine made even being a Jedi illegal, but I was hoping the medicenter wouldn't have bothered to cancel the policy. Looks like I was right." The old farmer plopped into a hard plastic chair and his eyes.

Han narrowed his eyes at the man. "This whole Jedi thing isn't any easier on you than it is on him." It wasn't a question.

Beru sat next to her husband and laid a hand on his arm. Owen didn't look up. "No, it isn't."

"Why is this so hard on everyone? So the kid decided to be a Jedi, so what?" Han was tired of mincing words. Not mentioning what Han had come to think of as 'the Jedi issue' was like no one mentioning the rancor standing in the middle of the common room. Everyone knew it was there, and everyone was terrified of it, but no one wanted to talk about it. "Surely this isn't still about Anakin, or Vader or what ever you want to call him?"

Owen cringed and Beru lowered her eyes to the floor.

Han continued. "Do you have any idea what you're doing to the kid? You're driving him crazy, that's what you're doing. Did you know he didn't even write you a letter for four years because he thought you'd be upset with him?"

The old smuggler started pacing the small room as he spoke. He wasn't that upset about this particular issue, but the stress of the last few hours was hanging on him and he couldn't help but vent. "You people ought to be ashamed of yourselves."

"We are." Owen's admission stopped Han in his tracks. "Well, I am. Luke's a good kid, he always has been. All I ever wanted to do was protect him. When Obi Wan brought him to us, I almost sen them both away. Beru took the boy from Obi Wan and handed him to me and do you know that boy just smiled at me. Imagine, two day's old and he smiled at me and held on to my hand.

"You have to understand, I never wanted anything to happen to him. Luke is special, he always had been. He never cried, even as a baby. He was always so happy. He would do anything to help someone who needed it. He was always so naive, I guess we encouraged that though..."

The farmer trailed off, but Beru urged him on. "Don't stop, dear. You need to say this as much as he needs to understand."

Owen looked at her and then at Han, who had taken a seat near the door where he could see if someone was coming. "Anakin was kinda like that. Not exactly, but a little. We, I, was scared. None of us wanted what happened to Anakin to happen to Luke. We should have known better, I should have known better. Luke is nothing like Anakin, he never was. I guess, we got started 'protecting' him and it just became a habit. At first, we worried about Vader finding him, than we worried he'd end up like Anakin, then we were ashamed of ourselves for believing that his perfect child could ever do that, than we were just so in the habit of hiding this, that it became nearly impossible to change.

"Now, it's like a rancor in the common room, and I don't know how to bring the topic up. I know it is hurting Luke, but I can't help it."

Han started at he comparison Owen had used. He decided it could wait and turned the new information around in his head. He wasn't sure where this put him, but he offered the best answer he could to the old farmer. "I understand."

* * *

Leia was lost. She wasn't sure when this fog had settled in around her, but now it was so thick she couldn't see or hear anything around her. The universe was whiteness and silence. Except for when the bad man came. She could hear him walking past, he was looking for her. The fog was keeping him from finding her as much as it was keeping her from finding her way home.

Tiny, five-year-old, Leia heard him again and whimpered. Then, she heard Luke's voice. "Luke, Luke help me! He's coming Luke, help me." She ran toward the sound of her brothers voice, knowing he would keep her safe. She couldn't see him in the fog, but she found his large, warm, hand and held on to it. He told her the bad man was gone now. She believed him but she knew the bad man would be back, he always came back.

The princess tried to find someplace to hide, not letting go of her brothers hand. She told Luke stories, hoping that the bad man would hear and know she had help now, that she wasn't alone anymore.

If the bad man knew she wasn't alone he might go away for good. Suddenly, Luke let go. Leia's fear made the fog deepen; now it was hard to even breathe. For just a moment she stood quietly, searching the space around her with her small hands and trying to find him again. Then she heard the bad man coming, heard his heavy footsteps, and she cried out to Luke, who found her hand again. She heard the bad man go away, but he knew where she was now and he would find her again, she had to hide.

Leia tried to run, but Luke held her in place, not letting her run. "He'll get me Luke! We have to hide. Help me Luke!" He didn't answer and she sobbed at him and pulled on his hand with all her strength. "Help me Luke!"

* * *

"Sir, you're going to have to step away from her if you want us to help her." One of the nurses said.

"If I let go she'll start screaming and she might hurt herself. Do you want that to happen?"

The nurse shook her head and Luke said, "Good, then let me stay, I won't be in your way, I just need to hold her hand."

"Leave him alone." One of the doctors said, and the nurse went away. "What do you sense, son?"

"She's trying to hide. She thinks someone is trying to find her so she keeps running away from him. She's got some kind of fog around her, it is some kind of defense, I think she did it wrong though."

"What do you mean?" The old doctor asked him. He had worked with Jedi before and, though it had been a while, it was coming back to him.

"I think she's lost in the memory of something that happened when she was very small. A long time ago she was attacked by someone through the Force and she raised this fog to protect herself. When she thought she was being attacked again, she did it again, only this time she got stuck in the fog too and she can't figure out how to get free."

The doctor nodded, it made sense based on what he knew of that sort of thing. "Do you know what caused the hallucination in the first place?"

The Jedi shook his head, still holding tight to the princesses hand. She had fallen silent after they had entered the exam room and aside from the occasional whimper, wasn't saying a word. "She was fine four hours ago. She flew an old T-16, ate dinner, and answered some messages. Then she had some kind of emotional break down and has been getting worse ever since."

The doctor turned to one of his colleagues. While he'd been talking to the Jedi, the other doctors and nurses had been doing some basic tests. "What do you think? Viral?"

"Could be." The younger doctor said. "We haven't found anything obvious. She might have one of the older versions of that Para12 virus. We know it isn't an injury, and it isn't a toxin. That leaves viral, bacterial, or psychological."

"Start with viral. She's an important person, it could be an assassination attempt. Force help us if it's psychological."

* * *

Leia was curled up in a ball on the floor. She had one hand in the air, holding on to her brother. Rocking back and forth, she cried and whimpered. She wasn't ready to let go of Luke, but she didn't want to stay in one place very long because the bad man would find her.

The hoarse voice that was pleading with the Jedi to help her run would have made the princess cringe under other circumstances. Right now, she was too frightened to care. "Please help me, Luke. I have to go. He's coming Luke, he'll find me and no one can stop him. Help me hide from him, Luke. Don't let him get me"

The hand she was holding was warm and strong and she was now debating letting go of it. She was that desperately afraid. She had to run and hide and if her brother wouldn't help her, she would have to let go and hope she could do it on her own.

Just as Leia was loosening her grasp, Luke knelt down next to her, suddenly visible through the fog. He wrapped his arms around Leia's child-sized frame. "Don't let go, Leia. Hold on, we'll stop him together."

Leia stood and held on to her brother, her savior. She clutched him and felt warmed by his strength. "Don't leave me Luke. He'll get me if you leave me, I know he will. Help me, Luke, I'm scared." There were tears streaming down her face.

"Be strong, Leia. He can't hurt either of us if we're together."

* * *

The older doctor, the one who had allowed Luke into the exam room, joined Han, Owen, and Beru in the waiting room after three hours.

"How is she? What's wrong?"

The doctor cleared his throat and motioned to the chairs. "Sit down. I have good news and bad news." He took one of the chairs himself. "The good news is we know what's making her sick and we can treat it. The Princess has picked up a virus that specifically attacks the memory centers of the brain. This virus, it doesn't have a name, just a classification number, lays dormant until an intense surge of adrenaline jump starts it. Then it goes to work. Symptoms start with intense mood swings, then progress slowly into full blown hallucinations and eventually into loss of motor control and psychological regression.

"Under ordinary circumstances, the virus takes more than a week to reach the point the Princess is at now. It seems that this particular strain grows faster with large doses of adrenaline. This wouldn't be a problem, but according to Jedi Skywalker the Princess has been under a lot of emotional stress lately. That in itself would have caused extreme acceleration of the virus." The doctor paused here as if he was trying to gather his thoughts.

"With this acceleration of the virus's progression, hallucinations started within hours instead of days. Now this is the part I'm not sure I can help with. The Princess is apparently force sensitive. It seems the first hallucination she experienced was a reenactment of some kind of attack she experienced as a child. In real life she hid from her attacker and he eventually went away, but now she's stuck in some kind of memory loop that is being complicated by her Force skills."

Leia's friends had been hanging on the doctors every word. Now that he'd stopped, they had the opportunity to ask questions. Beru spoke first. "What can we do?"

"Not much I'm afraid. We're treating the virus and physically she should recover completely, however, it will be up to her to heal psychologically."

"Can we see her?" Han asked.

The doctor shrugged. "I should be able to arrange it. Right now, Jedi Skywalker is trying to help her out of the memory she's stuck in. They both stopped responding about an hour ago. I'm afraid I don't have much training in Jedi healing. I did, however, spend most of my training years patching up soldiers during the clone wars. I remember treating a few Jedi and for the most part they seemed to get better on their own if you gave them some time."

"Is there anyone we can ask for help?" Beru asked.

He shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid the only one left who might be able to help her already is."

Han chuckled wryly, earning a strange look from Beru. "Yeah, if anyone can do the impossible, Luke can. Sometimes I wonder if there is anything the kid can't do"

* * *

"Don't give in to your fear, Leia. You are stronger than him. If you stand up to him, you can win!" Luke told her, holding her at arms length so he could look her in the eye.

The fog was starting to break up as Luke's presence gave the princess courage. Now she could plainly see the floor under her feet. When she got close enough, she could see the walls were made of pink Alderaanian marble, just like the floors. She wondered where she was, but with the fog blocking her vision and Luke keeping her from moving around she couldn't tell.

"But I'm not strong enough."

"Yes you are. You are one of the strongest people I know. You can do this." Luke's words were slowly chasing away her fears. As her fear slackened, the fog broke up more and more. Soon, as Leia's courage built, they could see a long hallway, with doors on either side and high, vaulted ceilings. "Where are we?"

"We're at home, silly."

"Where's home?"

"The Palace. My room is right down there. Mom and Dad's room is across the hall. I'm not supposed to be out here, I'm supposed to get in the closet if bad men come; but the bad man was getting close so I left."

Luke held on to the child's hand, wondering if this was really what his sister had looked like as a child. He kicked himself mentally for his lack of focus and turned back to Leia. "Where did the fog come from, Leia?"

"Mother taught me, She said if I was ever sacred of anybody, I should pretend that there was a bright white fog all around me that keep them from seeing me. It didn't work this time, though. The bad man still saw me anyway so I made the fog go everywhere so at least he couldn't find me. I made a mistake though, I got lost."

The Jedi debated what to do next. He knew that she could come back with him and wake up now that the fog was gone; but what about her 'bad man.' If this mysterious attacker came so quickly to her subconscious it might interfere with her training later. She needed to vanquish this fear before it became debilitating. "You did good Leia, the bad man didn't find you; but now you need to make the bad man go away so you can come with me."

She looked at him in disbelief. "I can't, I've tried. He's too strong."

"No he's not. You don't even have to fight him, just look him in the eye and tell him you're not afraid of him. If you tell him you're not scared he'll go away." Luke silently praised his Aunt Beru for that piece of advice.

"That only works for bad dreams." little Leia told him matter of factly.

Luke gave her his best 'big brother' smile. "Sometimes it works on real bad guys too. Some bad guys only want to hurt you if you're afraid of them."

"Really?"

"Really." He told her. "The bad man is one just like that, if you aren't afraid of him anymore, he'll go away. Do you want to try it and see if it works?"

Her small face set in a look of determination that Luke was all to familiar with. "Let's do it!" She said resolutely. Together, they marched off to find the bad man who was presumably still roaming the palace, searching for the small princess.

* * *

For over six hours now, Leia had been lying still on the hospital bed with Luke sitting on a chair right next to her. Four hours ago, both had stopped responding when the doctors tried to get their attention. Three hours ago Beru, Owen, and Han had been allowed to come sit with them. Chewie had stopped by for a while, but had returned to the ship. The space station was only recently out of imperial control and the Wookie's presence in the hospital made many of the xenophobic staff nervous.

When Luke finally opened his eyes, it was to the sight of his family, his aunt, uncle, and best friend, sitting and talking quietly. He turned to Leia, who was just opening her eyes. She whispered with a hoarse voice, "It worked! We did it Luke, you were right."

"You did it Leia, just like I knew you could." She closed her eyes again and drifted off into a quiet sleep.

The trio who had been waiting patiently all this time, didn't even notice. Luke sat and watched them for a few minutes, smiling quietly. They were talking about their favorite foods. By this time the Jedi was slightly annoyed that they hadn't noticed him yet was quite satisfied to see them all start when he said, "I like arabis candy myself."

"You're awake? How's Leia?" Han asked.

"Nice to see you too!" Luke said in mock anger. He laughed, "Leia's going to be fine, she's sleeping off the effects of the virus now. She should be up and about in a couple of days."

"Isn't that my line?" The old Doctor said from the door. He smiled pleasantly. "The nurses saw the monitors spike so they sent me in. It seems they are all a bit spooked by you young man."

"Who me? Why would they be spooked by me?"

The old Doctor laughed. "Don't you know, most of them never met a Jedi before. The moment you stepped off that ship most of them wanted to ask for a date, but now that they know..."

Luke blushed. Han laughed and Beru smiled serenely.

The doctor started scrolling through the data on a display screen. "I don't know what you did son, but she's out of that near-coma she was in. She's sleeping peacefully and she should be up and about in a couple of days."

"Thank you, doctor..." Beru trailed off, only just now realizing she didn't even know the man's name.

"Nakijo. Doctor Gred Nakijo, according to my identification chip."

"Thank you Doctor Nakijo."

"Don't thank me, thank the Jedi. All I did was administer an antiviral."

Luke looked at him sharply. "Doctor, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have had the chance. Leia might have been dead before they let me see her again."

The Doctor shook his head. "Let's call it a team effort. We could be here all day congratulating each other. I just thank the Force that we could help her."

"Me too." said a sleepy Leia. She was lying in the bed, propping herself up on one elbow. Luke hurried to raise the bed for her. "Thanks, Luke."

Han stepped up to her side and brushed her hair aside, never taking his eyes off her. "Hey Sweetheart, how are you feelin'?"

"Tired."

"What happened?" Han asked her.

She grimaced slightly. "I think I got lost, I don't remember it very well, it's kinda like a dream."

Luke turned to her, "Leia, who was the 'bad man'?"

She wrinkled her forehead in thought. "I never really knew. When I was really little, about five years old, a group of terrorists invaded the palace. I was supposed to hide in the closet if anyone ever came to the palace who sacred me but I didn't that time. I remember, I never saw the leader, but I didn't hide in the closet like I was supposed to because he found me there.

"It's funny, I know I never saw the man, but I remember him finding me and I had to run away." She turned to Luke for explanation.

"He was a dark Jedi. Not a Sith, but a Jedi who believed the Dark side was the same as the Light. I don't imagine he was looking for you specifically, but when he sensed your fear he decided to try and find you and use you. Whoever he was, he must have been pretty strong to find you with that fog you created."

Leia blushed slightly. "It may have kept him from finding me that time, but this time it got me lost."

"That was because of the virus confusing you. Ordinarily, that defense probably works very well. You're going to have to show it to me sometime when you're not sick."

"Well, if we're all comfortable with our knowledge of the situation, I suggest you all move this into the hallway or the waiting room so the princess can get some rest." The doctor started to usher them out. Han hesitated.

"I have one question."

"Yes, Han?"

"Why hide in the closet, wouldn't that make you pretty easy to find?"

Leia laughed. " 'The closet' was actually a safe room that could only be accessed through the closet in my bedroom. Only my parents and a couple of trusted friends could access it once I was inside." Han looked embarrassed at his apparently stupid question. Leia saw his face and added, "We always just referred to it as 'the closet' to throw people off. Aside from those who had access, only a handful of people even knew it existed."

Leia yawned and the doctor again started waving them out. "Alright everyone, anything else can wait until the princess is feeling better. Out you go!"

They obeyed and Leia was asleep almost as soon as she was horizontal again.

* * *

Relieved, Han went back to the _Falcon_ to tell Chewie the good news and to get away from the smell that seemed to be a requirement in every medicenter in the galaxy. Beru decided to take the opportunity to see the rest of the space station. This left Owen and Luke alone together.

The two walked in comfortable silence down a random corridor for sometime before either spoke.

"Are you sure you're alright, son. You were out of it in there for a long time."

Luke smiled at his uncle. "I'm okay." He said through a yawn. "A bit tired, but otherwise I'm fine." Silence returned.

"It's a good thing you remembered that old rule."

Owen shrugged. "It was a gamble. I couldn't let them keep you out." He stopped and placed one hand on his nephew's shoulder. Now was his chance to say some things that he should have said years ago. At the very least, he should have said them days ago. "You did good today, son."

Luke shrugged, neither realized how very much he looked like his uncle in that instant. "I did what I had to."

"I'm proud of you, and not just about today either. You've done some amazing things, but most importantly, you=ve never given up. Even when it seemed the entire universe was against you and there was now way to do what you wanted, you kept trying. For that, I am proud of you." Owen hugged his nephew, surprising the young Jedi. "I love you son."

"I love you too, Uncle Owen." The young man answered. They both meant it as surely as they ever had.

The first uncomfortable moment in their conversation occurred next. Neither expressed emotion well, so they started walking again. Luke gathered his courage. "I'm glad your not upset with me." he said shyly.

Owen stopped again. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, knowing he had to do this right this time. So many times in the past he'd allowed his boy to think he was a disappointment, a failure. It hurt just to think of all the pain he'd caused the young man in front of him. The old farmer looked into clear blue eyes and felt his heart breaking. The hope and fear in the young man's gaze was enough to start him talking before he was sure what to say.

"I'm sorry, son, I should never have let you think that."

"It's okay..." Luke started, but Owen stopped him.

"No it's not, damn it!" He grabbed both Luke's shoulders and held him at arms length. "I should have told you a long time ago, I have never been disappointed in you. Never!"

"But I..." Owen still wouldn't let him finish a sentence. The confusion in the young man's gaze told him all he needed to know; it gave him the strength to continue.

"I'll admit you scared me a few times. That night when you 'heard' the raiders coming through the fence you 'heard' go down was almost more than I could bear. But I was never upset with you, I was never disappointed. You have done nothing but make me proud since the day Obi Wan brought you to us." He paused here, watching his nephew's face as his expression changed from confusion, to disbelief, to delight. Owen continued.

"Fear does funny things to a person, Luke. From day one I was afraid for you, afraid to lose you. That fear kept me holding you at arms length and for that I am sorry."

Luke hugged his uncle again. He understood. In fact, his uncle made so much sense, Luke couldn't imagine why he'd ever thought otherwise. "I'm sorry, Uncle Owen."

"Whatever for?"

"For believing for even a moment that you didn't care."

Owen ruffled the young man's hair, something he hadn't done in far too long. Luke automatically reached up to straighten it, them dropped his hand and left it that way. They walked down the corridor together. They spent the remainder of the 'day' on the station talking, just talking. It was one of the best day's of Luke's life.

* * *

One week later...

"Do you really have to leave?" Beru asked, holding a fully recovered Leia to her tightly. The entire family, Han and Chewie included, was standing at the bottom of the _Falcon_'s boarding ramp.

"I've been away too long already." The princess, back in her senator's clothes, released her newfound aunt only to hug her tightly again. "I promise, I'll come back soon. I might even bring Luke with me." She joked.

"As long as it's not another four years." Owen warned his nephew, pulling the young man into a hug. Over the last week, ever since the conversation at the medicenter, Owen had taken to touching his nephew constantly. Luke couldn't have been happier.

"Never again." Luke promised.

Beru, still in tearful goodbye mode, hugged Han next. "You know, you're welcome here too." She told the smuggler.

"Yes ma'am. I'll be back, I kinda got used to eating real food for a change."

Luke was last in line for a hug from his aunt. "You better get back here soon young man. I missed you when you were gone."

"I'll be back soon Aunt Beru. I promise." The Jedi returned her hug and headed for the ship when she'd released him.

With their bags already stowed on board, the four of them walked almost reluctantly up the ramp. Owen wrapped one arm around Beru, who waved until Han raised the ramp.

Standing there, watching the ship power up Beru remembered the last time she had watched her little boy leave home. Four years ago, Luke Skywalker had left Tatooine to follow in his father's footsteps. It turned out that, instead of following in his father's footsteps, Luke had made a path of his own. He'd beaten the odds, even when there hadn't been anyone there to help him. He'd found his sister and several new friends. Beru was proud of her boy.

But the best part was that after his adventures, he'd come home.

.

The End. (I mean it this time.)


End file.
